Catalytic gold nanoparticles for fluorescent detection of mercury(II) and lead(II) ions

In this study, we developed a fluorescence assay for the highly sensitive and selective detection of Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions using a gold nanoparticle (Au NP)-based probe. The Hg-Au and Pb-Au alloys that formed on the Au NP surfaces allowed the Au NPs to exhibit peroxidase-mimicking catalytic activity in the H₂O₂-mediated oxidation of Amplex UltraRed (AUR). The fluorescence of the AUR oxidation product increased upon increasing the concentration of either Hg²⁺ or Pb²⁺ ions. By controlling the pH values of 5mM tris-acetate buffers at 7.0 and 9.0, this H₂O₂-AUR-Au NP probe detected Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions, respectively, both with limits of detection (signal-to-noise ratio: 3) of 4.0nM. The fluorescence intensity of the AUR oxidation product was proportional to the concentrations of Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions over ranges 0.05-1μM (R²=0.993) and 0.05-5μM (R²=0.996), respectively. The H₂O₂-AUR-Au NP probe was highly selective for Hg²⁺ (>100-fold) and Pb²⁺ (>300-fold) ions in the presence of other tested metal ions. We validated the practicality of this simple, selective, and sensitive H₂O₂-AUR-Au NP probe through determination of the concentrations of Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions in a lake water sample and of Pb²⁺ ions in a blood sample. To the best of our knowledge, this system is the first example of Au NPs being used as enzyme-mimics for the fluorescence detection of Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions.