Naked eye sensing of Hg(II) using β-cyclodextrin functionalized Silver nanoparticles

Green synthesis of nanoparticles is an emerging branch of nanotechnology. The characterization and sensing application of microwave synthesized and silver nanoparticles are reported in this work. The formation of silver nanoparticles was verified by UV-Vis spectroscopy and characterized by TEM and XRD analyses. The silver nanoparticles were used to detect Hg2+ ions colorimetrically by visible color change in aqueous medium. At higher pH value the deprotonated second 2+ions thereby inducing AgNP aggregation. The prepared silver nanoparticles were successful in sensing of mercury (II) ion even in a very low concentration of the order of 10-10 mol L-1 with high selectivity and sensitivity over K+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Na+, Fe3+, Zn2+, Ni2+, Co2+ and Ba2+ ions.