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A “turn-on” fluorescence assay for lead(II) based on the suppression of the surface energy transfer between acridine orange and gold nanoparticles

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Abstract

The authors describe a strategy for fluorometric determination of lead(II) that is based on the suppression of the surface energy transfer that occurs between acridine orange and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). As a result, the fluorescence of the system is recovered. Under optimized conditions, the enhancement of fluorescence intensity is related to the concentration of lead(II) in the 44 nM to 4.8 μM range, with a detection limit of 13 nM. The relative standard deviations for 11 determinations at concentrations of 0.386 μM, 1.93 μM and 2.89 μM are 1.02 %, 1.06 % and 1.75 %, respectively. This result suggests that the method can potentially be used to monitor the level of lead(II) in environmental samples.

Lead(II) ion is found to bind to citrate capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) which prevents binding of acridine orange (AO) to the AuNPs. As a result, the surface energy transfer from AO to AuNPs cannot occur and fluorescence is restored. This effect was used to quantify lead(II) ion.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21177052), the Science and Technology Program of Hunan Province in China (No. 2010SK3039) and the Construct Program of the Key Discipline (Public Health and Preventive Medicine) in Hunan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Public Health, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Feng Wang, Li-Ping Xiang, Yong-Sheng Wang, Jin-Hua Xue, Yu-Feng Zhu, Yan-Qin Huang, Si-Han Chen & Xian Tang

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  1. Xiao-Feng Wang
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  2. Li-Ping Xiang
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  3. Yong-Sheng Wang
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  4. Jin-Hua Xue
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  7. Si-Han Chen
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  8. Xian Tang
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Correspondence to Yong-Sheng Wang.

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Xiao-Feng Wang and Li-Ping Xiang are co-first authors.

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Wang, XF., Xiang, LP., Wang, YS. et al. A “turn-on” fluorescence assay for lead(II) based on the suppression of the surface energy transfer between acridine orange and gold nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 183, 1333–1339 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1738-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1738-7

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