Dual colorimetric sensing of ascorbic acid and thyroxine using Ag–EGCG–CTAB via a DFT approach

In this work, a colorimetric approach for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA) and thyroxine (TH) was developed by synthesizing cost-effective silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and CTAB. EGCG is the major bioactive chemical constituent that played a significant role in this study. The environment around the nanoparticle (NP) was controlled by adding CTAB surfactants. The synthesized NPs were characterized by different advanced techniques including XRD, XPS, SEM, and TEM. UV-visible spectra were thoroughly analyzed for sensing of AA and TH and the colour change of the solution can be visually monitored. The change in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties was used as an asset for the detection of AA and TH. A good linear relationship was obtained in both the sensing schemes with a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.67 μM and 0.33 μM for AA and TH respectively. Furthermore, the nanoparticles (NP) were implemented for real-sample analysis (pharmaceutical tablets). A cost-effective filter paper strip-based method coupled with smartphone scanning sensing was developed for the detection of AA. The interaction of AA and TH with the probe was depicted by a density functional theory (DFT) analysis. The synthesized NPs show tremendous selectivity towards AA and TH and excellent potential for practical applications.