Visual and Colorimetric Sensing of Metsulfuron-Methyl by Exploiting Hydrogen Bond-Induced Anti-Aggregation of Gold Nanoparticles in the Presence of Melamine
- Sensors (Basel). 2018 May 17;18(5):1595. doi: 10.3390/s18051595.
- 1. Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Laboratory for Sugar Crops Products, the Ministry of Agriculture, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. [email protected].
- 2. Key Laboratory of Vegetables Quality and Safety Control, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
- 3. Key Laboratory of Vegetables Quality and Safety Control, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
- 4. Key Laboratory of Vegetables Quality and Safety Control, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
- 5. Key Laboratory of Vegetables Quality and Safety Control, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
- 6. Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Laboratory for Sugar Crops Products, the Ministry of Agriculture, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. [email protected].
- 7. Key Laboratory of Agrifood Safety and Quality, Institute of Quality Standard and Testing Technology for Agro Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
- 8. Key Laboratory of Vegetables Quality and Safety Control, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Beijing 100081, China. [email protected].
Various highly sensitive and selective analytical methods have been used to monitor metsulfuron-methyl residue in the environment. However, these methods involve costly instruments and complex, time-consuming operations performed in laboratories. Here, a rapid, convenient, and sensitive colorimetric sensor based on anti-aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is demonstrated for the rapid detection of metsulfuron-methyl in agricultural irrigation water. The AuNPs could be induced to aggregate in the presence of melamine and exhibited a distinct color change from wine-red to blue. The aggregation was suppressed by a strong hydrogen-bonding interaction between metsulfuron-methyl and melamine. The differences of the absorbance at 523 nm (ΔA523) and the color change was linearly related to metsulfuron-methyl concentration over the range 0.1⁻100 mg/L, as observed visually and by UV-vis (Ultraviolet-visible) spectrometry. The detection limit of the sensor was as low as 0.05 mg/L (signal/noise = 3), and was used to determine metsulfuron-methyl in spiked water and in agricultural irrigation water samples. Recoveries were in the range of 71.2⁻100.4%, suggesting that the colorimetric sensor was suitable for the determination of metsulfuron-methyl in agricultural water samples.