title: N-1-(2-mercaptoethyl)thymine modification of gold nanoparticles: a highly selective and sensitive colorimetric chemosensor for Hg2+.
abstract: An approach for mercury ions (Hg(2+)) sensing based on the Hg(2+)-induced aggregation of thymine (T)-SH-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been reported. The T-SH ligands that we synthesized can easily be coupled to the surface of AuNPs through the Au-S bond and can recognize Hg(2+) with high selectivity by forming a T-Hg-T complex with strong affinity. For the T-SH-functionalized AuNPs (T-S-AuNPs) sensor, upon addition of Hg(2+), the formation of the T-Hg-T complex induces aggregation of T-S-AuNPs and results in a significant change of color and UV-Vis absorption spectra. Thus, our method can be used for the rapid, easy and reliable screening of Hg(2+) in aqueous solution, with high sensitivity (2.8 nM) and selectivity over competing analytes. The developed method is successfully applied to the sensing of Hg(2+) in real environmental samples.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, CAS, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.forename: Chunwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Lingxin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D013941:Thymine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; C570008:N-1-(2-mercaptoethyl)thymine; D014867:Water; D006046:Gold; D008628:Mercury; D013941:Thymine