Colorimetric detection of mercury(II) based on 2,2′-bipyridyl induced quasi-linear aggregation of gold nanoparticles

- A naked-eye colorimetric method is developed for detection of Hg2+.
- The chemical, Bipy is able to trigger the linear aggregation of AuNPs.
- Hg2+ is able to efficiently decelerate/inhibit the aggregation.
- The method is verified to be feasible for practical samples.