A colorimetric probe for the detection of Ni2+ in water based on Ag-Cu alloy nanoparticles hosted in electrospun nanofibres

Authors

  • DA Ondigo 1. Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; 2. Department of Physical Sciences, Karatina University, P.O. Box 1957-10101, Karatina, Kenya
  • B Mudabuka Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
  • B Pule Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
  • ZR Tshentu Department of Chemistry, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
  • N Torto 1. Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; 2. Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation, P/Bag 0082, Gaborone, Botswana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v42i3.05

Keywords:

colorimetric probes, alloy nanoparticles, electrospun nanofibres, heavy metal determination

Abstract

A Ni2+ based colorimetric probe based on glutathione-stabilized silver/copper nanoparticles (GSH-Ag-Cu alloy NPs) in an electrospun polymer matrix is reported. Glutathione-Ag-Cu alloy NPs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The freshly synthesized GSH-Ag-Cu alloy NPs in a polymer matrix were black in colour due to an intense surface plasmon absorption band at 424 nm. However the electrospun nanocomposite fibres were green in colour and in the presence of Ni2+ the green GSH-Ag-Cu alloy NP fibres were discoloured. The sensitivity of the GSH-Ag-Cu alloy NPs towards other representative transition, alkali and alkali earth metal ions was negligible. The effect of the concentration of Ni2+ on the nanocomposite fibres was evaluated and the ‘eye-ball’ limit of detection was found to be 5.8 μg/mL.

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Published

2016-07-29

Issue

Vol. 42 No. 3 July (2016): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2022 DA Ondigo, B Mudabuka, B Pule, ZR Tshentu, N Torto

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided the source is attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors.

How to Cite

DA Ondigo (2016) “A colorimetric probe for the detection of Ni2+ in water based on Ag-Cu alloy nanoparticles hosted in electrospun nanofibres”, Water SA, 42(3 July). doi:10.4314/wsa.v42i3.05.