Highly Sensitive and Selective Colorimetric Sensor of Mercury (II) Based on Layer–by–Layer Deposition of Gold/Silver Bimetallic Nanoparticles

A new colorimetric sensor based on gold/silver bimetallic nanoparticles (Au–Ag BNPs) for the sensitive and selective detection of mercury (II) was developed. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized by Turkevich method. The surface modification of AuNPs was modified by the layer–by–layer technique using poly(diallyl dimethylammonium chloride) which provided positively charged of AuNPs. Negatively charged silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by chemical reduction using poly(4–styrenesulfonic acid–co–maleic acid) as the stabilizing agent. The layer–by–layer assembly deposition technique was used to prepare Au–Ag BNPs of positively and negatively charged of AuNPs and AgNPs, respectively. The synthesized Au–Ag BNPs were characterized by a UV-visible spectrophotometer, zeta potential analyzer, FT–IR, TEM, XRD, and EDX. The Au–Ag BNPs sensor was able to detect mercury (II) in aqueous solution, visibly changing from brownish–orange to purple. The linear relationships of the UV-visible spectrometry demonstrate that the Au–Ag BNPs-based colorimetric sensor can be used for the quantitative analysis of mercury (II) in the range of 0.5–80 mg L(−1), with the correlation coefficient, r(2) = 0.9818. The limit of detection (LOD) of mercury (II) was found to be 0.526 + 0.001 mg L(−1). The BNPs is also verified to have a good practical applicability for mercury (II) detection in the real samples.