Enhanced spectrophotometric detection of Hg in water samples by surface plasmon resonance of Au nanoparticles after preconcentration with vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction

Abstract

This article presents an efficient, simple, and cost-effective method for the determination of trace amounts of Hg by vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (VALLME) coupled to microvolume UV-Vis spectrophotometry. This method correlates changes in the intensity of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOABr) coated Au nanoparticles (NPs) after interaction with Hg2+ ion. Spectroscopic measurements of the TOABr-coated Au NPs phase with particular absorption properties (strong and well-defined absorption bands) after analyte extraction by VALLME, provide an accurate and sensitive determination of Hg in water samples, comparable with measurements obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Different variables including sample volume, extraction time, and TOABr-coated Au NPs dispersion volume were carefully studied; final experimental conditions were 5 mL, 120 μL and 5 min respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.8 ng mL- 1. The calibration curve was linear at concentrations between the limit of quantification (LOQ) (4.9 ng mL- 1) and up to at least 120 ng mL- 1 of Hg. The relative standard deviation for six replicate determinations of 20 ng mL- 1 of Hg was 4.7%. This method exhibited an excellent analytical performance in terms of selectivity and sensitivity and it was finally applied for Hg determination in spiked tap and mineral water samples.