Abstract
An essential requirement for colorimetric paper-sensor is to allow the target analytes (heavy metal ions) to access the chromophore while maintaining strong chromophore immobilization on the porous substrate surface. This work evaluates the selection of sensitive chromophores (dithizone, 1-(2-pyridylazo) 2-naphthol and 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol) and their immobilization strategies on paper sensors. Dithizone (DTz) are capable of producing a significant color transition at unadjusted pH, observed by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy and visible recognition. After immobilizing DTz on a paper substrate (cellulose acetate/chitosan substrate), the DTz-paper sensor showed a distinctive color change from blue-green to peach-pink upon reaction with Pb2+ ions, and the color intensity was proportional to the metal concentration. Quantitative analysis using RGB (R:Red; G:Green; B:Blue) plots showed that increasing DTz concentration on the CA/CS paper sensor increases the difference in total color intensity (∆IT) and the difference in red code intensity (∆IR). This is due to the formation of more DTz-Pb2+ complexes on the CA/CS paper substrate. The CA/CS paper strips immobilized with 100 ppm DTz showed practical potential for rapid detection of heavy metal ions. The DTz-CA/CS paper sensor showed significant color change when detecting spiked heavy metals ions (0.1 ppm Pb2+, 2.0 ppm Zn2+, and 0.2 ppm Cu2+) in river water samples that prepared at the maximum permissible limit for industrial effluent in Malaysia.
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) with project code FRGS/1/2021/TK0/USM/02/8 (Grant No: 203/PJKIMIA/6071513).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Nur Atiah binti Azmi and Siew Chun Low. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Siew Chun Low and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Low, S.C., Azmi, N.A.b., Ong, C.S. et al. Environmental monitoring of trace metal pollutants using cellulosic-paper incorporating color change of azo-chromophore. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 71614–71631 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20706-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20706-z