Efficient development and Characterisation of Asp-AuNPs based colorimetric sensor for the detection of Ag(I) from real water samples.

In this work, we develop an effective and efficient method for the preparation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this method, we used acetylsalicylic acid named aspirin (Asp) as a reducing agent. However, there is no need for any stabiliser to stabilise the reaction. The prepared nanoparticles were characterised by using FT-IR, UV-Visible, AFM, and XRD. These Asp-AuNPs nanoparticles were applied for the sensitive and selective determination of silver ions (Ag⁺). The estimated average size of gold nanoparticles was 33 nm. The sensor responds in the linear range of 0.002–0.015 µM. The sensor response towards other metals i.e. Li⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Cr³⁺ and As³⁺was obtained negligible. The limit of detection (LOD) of the prepared sensor was found up to 0.046 nM. The prepared colorimetric sensor was effectively applied to determine Ag⁺ ions in real water samples obtained from jewellery shops from different places of Hyderabad, Sindh Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]