Surface plasmon resonance sensor based on golden nanoparticles and cold vapour generation technique for the detection of mercury in aqueous samples

In this work, a surface plasmon resonance sensor for determination of Hg based on golden nanoparticles was developed. The sensor follows the change of the signal from solutions in contact with atomic mercury previously generated by the reaction with sodium borohydride. Mie theory predicts that Hg film, as low as 5 nm, induced a significant reduction of the surface plasmon resonance signal of 40 nm golden nanoparticles. This property was used for quantification purposes in the sensor. The device provide limits of detection of 172 ng/L that can compared with the 91 ng/L obtained with atomic fluorescence, a common technique used for Hg quantification in drinking water. This result was relevant, considering that it was not necessary to functionalize the nanoparticles or use nanoparticles deposited in a substrate. Also, thanks that Hg is released from the matrix, the surface plasmon resonance signal was not affected by concomitant elements in the sample.