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Colorimetric determination of ferrous ion via morphology transition of gold nanorods

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Abstract

A colorimetric method is described for the determination of ferrous ion (Fe2+) with high sensitivity and selectivity. The method is based on catalytic etching of gold nanorod (NR). In an acid condition, Fe2+ reacts with H2O2 to produce superoxide radical (O2 •−) that etches gold NRs from the low energy surface along the longitudinal direction preferentially. As a result, the changes in the absorption spectrum and color of gold NR can be measured and also can be detected visually. Under the optimal conditions, the assay has very low detection limit (13.5 nM) and a linear response in a concentration range of 75 to 1 μM. The method was applied to the determination of Fe2+ in spiked samples of fetal bovine serum and also transferred to a kind of test stripe for use in fast practical applications. A unique colorimetric sensing method is demonstrated for the colorimetric detection of Fe2+, again based on the oxidation of gold nanorods which leads to the blue-shift of the absorption.

A unique colorimetric sensing method was shown for the colorimetric detection of Fe2+. Fe2+reacts with H2O2 to generate superoxide radical that oxidize gold nanorods. This leads to a color change from blue-green to pink.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51572109 and 51501071), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2015EL008, China).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Material Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, People’s Republic of China

    Simin Lu, Ling Chen & Ping Yang

  2. School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia

    Xiao Zhang

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  1. Simin Lu
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  2. Xiao Zhang
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  3. Ling Chen
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Correspondence to Ping Yang.

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Lu, S., Zhang, X., Chen, L. et al. Colorimetric determination of ferrous ion via morphology transition of gold nanorods. Microchim Acta 185, 76 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2602-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2602-8

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