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Portable smartphone-assisted highly sensitive detection of mercury ions based on gold nanoparticle-modified NH2-UiO-66 metal–organic framework

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Abstract

A novel portable smartphone-assisted colorimetric method was reported for the determination of Hg2+ with good analytical performance. A Zr(IV)-based metal–organic framework functionalized with amino groups (NH2-UiO-66) has been adopted as a supporting platform to anchor gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), avoiding the migration and aggregation of AuNPs. With the addition of Hg2+, the formation of gold amalgam proved possible to enhance peroxidase-like activity of the composite (AuNPs/NH2-UiO-66), accelerating the oxidization of zymolyte 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). In the meantime, the color of the reaction solution turned a vivid blue, and the red, green, and blue (RGB) values of the solution color changed accordingly. On account of this strategy, the quantitative detection of Hg2+ could be achieved. After the optimization of the experiment conditions, the average color intensity (Ic) resulting from RGB values was linear related to the concentration of Hg2+ from 10 to 100 nM, accompanied with a detection limit (LOD) down to 5.4 nM calculated by 3σ/S. The successful application of the designed method has been promoted to detect Hg2+ in some water samples, displaying a great potential in practical application. Furthermore, the use of a smartphone made our proposed method simple and accurate, and thus puts forward a possible way for in situ and real-time monitoring.

Graphical Abstract

A portable smartphone-assisted RGB colorimetric method for Hg2+ detection based on Hg2+-enhanced peroxidase-like activity of AuNPs modified on NH2-UiO-66.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22006085, 21976099, 22006086, 22376216) and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2020QB135).

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  1. Shasha Wang and Yifei Wang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266520, China

    Shasha Wang, Yifei Wang, Jiping Ma & Chaonan Huang

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Shandong Research Center for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China

    Lingxin Chen

  3. School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, 264003, China

    Lingxin Chen

  4. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, China

    Lingxin Chen

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  1. Shasha Wang
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Wang, S., Wang, Y., Ma, J. et al. Portable smartphone-assisted highly sensitive detection of mercury ions based on gold nanoparticle-modified NH2-UiO-66 metal–organic framework. Anal Bioanal Chem 416, 1001–1010 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-023-05090-y

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