Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles as Selective Colorimetric Sensors for Fe3+

Abstract

In this study, the simple synthesis of silver nanoparticles with high stability and selectivity using co-stabilizing agents (4-ATP-CT-EDTA-L-TA-AgNPs) was developed to use as a colorimetric sensor for the determination of Fe3+. The selectivity of 4-ATP-CT-EDTA-L-TA-AgNPs with various cations including Cd2+, Co2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ was carried out. The results showed the high selectivity of 4-ATP-CT-EDTA-L-TA-AgNPs for Fe3+ over other cations. The color of the solution clearly changed from dark yellow to dark brown. The 4-ATP-CT-EDTA-L-TA-AgNPs were applied as a Fe3+ colorimetric sensor by monitoring the absorbance at a wavelength of 360 nm. The linear calibration curve was obtained over the Fe3+ concentration range of 6.63–1800 µM with a high correlation coefficient of 0.999. The limit of detection (3SD) was 2.32 µM and the limit of quantitation (10SD) was 6.63 µM. In addition, this developed method had high precisions (%RSD < 5.0; n = 3). The proposed method was successfully applied for the quantification of Fe3+ in wastewater samples. The results obtained were in close agreement with those obtained from FAAS (atomic absorption spectrometry) method. © 2022, Shiraz University.