Persea americana seed extract mediated gold nanoparticles for mercury(ii)/iron(iii) sensing, 4-nitrophenol reduction, and organic dye degradation

In this work, Persea americana (Avocado) seed extract mediated systematically optimized synthesis has been employed for the formation of small sized gold nanoparticles (Av-AuNPs) at different pH values. The size, shape and crystallinity of the as-prepared AuNPs have been studied using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The nanoparticles were found to be selective towards mercury(ii) upon the prior or subsequent addition of iron(iii), revealing a blue shift and an enhancement of the characteristic surface plasmon resonance (at 519 nm). Similar absorbance based selectivity has been observed towards Fe(iii) in the presence of Hg(ii). The high sensitivity and selectivity of Av-AuNPs towards Hg(ii) and Fe(iii) has been attributed to the formation of core–shell structures. From the UV-visible spectroscopic measurements, the limits of detection for Hg(ii) and Fe(iii) are found to be 50 nM and 30 nM (around one order of magnitude less than the Environment Protection Agency limit of 0.7 μM for Fe(iii) in drinking water) respectively, with an excellent linear dependence over a wide range of concentrations. Additionally, as-prepared Av-AuNPs have been demonstrated to be efficient in the reduction of organic pollutant 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol and degradation of some organic dyes, such as Methylene Blue, Direct blue, Rhodamine 6G, Bromophenol blue and methyl orange. The use of the proposed Av-AuNPs for sensing and green catalysis can form the basis of high-performance analytical assays, effective multiplexed intracellular sensors, and sophisticated and sustainable probes/catalysts.