Abstract
A ratiometric fluorometric assay for mercury(II) ion is described. It is making use of glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters (GSH-AuNCs) modified with tetraphenylporphyrin tetrasulfonic acid (TPPS). The resultant GSH-AuNC/TPPS nanocomposite displays dual emission (at 572 and 664 nm) under a single excitation wavelength of 365 nm. Mercury(II) ion intensively quenches the yellow fluorescence of GSH-AuNCs (peaking at 572 nm) but has a negligible effect on the red fluorescence of TPPS (at 664 nm). The ratio of fluorescence intensities at 572 and 664 nm drops linearly with Hg(II) ion concentration in the 0.02-2.0 μmol·L−1 range, and the detection limit is 7 nmol·L−1 (3sb/S). The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the assay is 2.0% at a 0.5 μmol·L−1 concentration level (n = 11). The method was successfully applied to the determination of Hg(II) ion in spiked water samples, with recoveries within the range of 87.5-107.5%.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21675107) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. GK201801006, GK201802012, GK201806003).
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Gao, Y., Liu, M., Yue, X. et al. Ratiometric fluorometric determination of mercury(II) by exploiting its quenching effect on glutathione-stabilized and tetraphenylporphyrin modified gold nanoclusters. Microchim Acta 186, 307 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3405-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3405-x