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On-site detection of As(III) based on silver nanoparticles aggregation mediated by phosphates using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)

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Abstract

A portable and simple method was developed for on-site selective determination of As(III) based on the SERS signal of As(III)–O vibration. The method relies on the synergistic effect of nanoparticles aggregation and analyte adsorption. Experimental results demonstrated that phosphate replaced the ligands of HH@Ag NPs, which in turn facilitated the adsorption of As(III) on the surface of HH@Ag NPs. The phosphate was introduced as an agglomerating agent to improve the detection ability of the method for As(III). The method shows good selectivity and linear relationship between 5 × 10−8 and 0.8 × 10−6 M, with the detection limit of 1.8 × 10−9 M. The method was applied to actual water samples and successfully detected As(III), indicating that the method could have application potential in actual detection scenarios.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21775042), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0207003), Open Fund of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Process and Control, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology (No. 2018B030322017), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020 MS037).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental System Optimization, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Hongwei Ge, Ranhao Yin, Pengchen Su, Long Yu, Ming Lei, Zhenli Sun & Suhua Wang

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Process and Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, 525000, China

    Mingtai Sun & Suhua Wang

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  1. Hongwei Ge
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  2. Ranhao Yin
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Correspondence to Suhua Wang.

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Ge, H., Yin, R., Su, P. et al. On-site detection of As(III) based on silver nanoparticles aggregation mediated by phosphates using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Microchim Acta 189, 44 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-021-05134-z

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