Abstract:
In the present research, we report easy, quick, ultrasensitive, inexpensive, and eco-friendly
colorimetric sensor using green synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The AgNPs were
biosynthesized utilizing Salvia tilifolia leaf extract and well characterized by various techniques,
and then employed to design a colorimetric assay for Hg(II) sensing in food, cosmetics, and
environmental samples. The developed colorimetric sensor found very sensitive and specific for
Hg(II) detecction with limits of detection down to 5.0 nM and 0.27 nM through the naked eye
and UV-vis spectrometer detection, respectively. In addition, the method showed good precision
(intra- and inter-day RSD values of 2.4% and 4.9%, respectively) with linearity of R2 = 0.9984
over the 0.1–100 μM interval. Furthermore, the proposed AgNPs-based colorimetric sensors has
been succesfully tested for sensing Hg(II) in a variety of real samples, including wastewater
effluent, lake water, drinking water, soft drinks, mineral water, beauty cream, and canned light
tuna. The percent recovery of the tested samples varied from 86.9 to 110%, demonstrating the
method's real world application. In summary, the proposed method is greener, selective and
highly sensitive, and recommended for detecting Hg(II) in food, cosmetics, and environmental
samples
