| Year | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Journal Info. | Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society, 32, 2003-2007 (2011). |
| Author | Chankil Lee and Jaebum Choo* |
| etc. |
Abstract
We report a highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform for the selective trace analysis of mercury (II) ions in drinkable water using aptamer-conjugated silver nanoparticles. Here, an aptamer designed to specifically bind to Hg2+ions in aqueous solution was labelled with a TAMRA moiety at the 5' end and used as a Raman reporter. Polyamine spermine tetrahydrochloride (spermine) was used to promote surface adsorption of the aptamer probes onto the silver nanoparticles. When Hg2+ ions are added to the system, binding of Hg2+ with T-T pairs results in a conformational rearrangement of the aptamer to form a hairpin structure. As a result of the reduced of electrostatic repulsion between silver nanoparticles, aggregation of silver nanoparticles occurs, and the SERS signal is significantly increased upon the addition of Hg2+ ions. Under optimized assay conditions, the concentration limit of detection was estimated to be 5 nM, and this satisfies a limit of detection below the EPA defined limit of 10 nM in drinkable water.
Download PDF = Click Attachment, please.
