Selective detection of gold(III) ions based on codoped MnO2–SnO2 nanocubes prepared by solution method

•Selective detection of Au(III) ions based on MnO2–SnO2 nanocubes.•Low-dimensional NCs used as a selective-solid-phase adsorbent.•The static adsorption capacity was ∼77.35 mg g−1 toward Au(III).•Adsorption process was controlled with a finite-number of NCs adsorption sites.

Doped nanomaterials have been involved a significant interest due to their potential applications in environmental, materials, and biological fields. Here, it is prepared doped MnO2–SnO2 nanocubes (NCs) by a wet-chemical process to categorize nanomaterials with practically controlled structure, which represents a continuous morphological improvement and potential metal ions selective detection. Doped NCs are characterized by using XRD, XPS, BET, UV/visible, FTIR, and FESEM coupled XEDS. The efficiency of NCs is investigated for a selective adsorption of Au(III) ions prior to its determination by ICP-OES technique. The selectivity of NCs toward various metal ions was studied. Based on the selectivity, it was found that the selectivity of NCs phase was the most toward Au(III). The static adsorption capacity for Au(III) was determined to be ∼77.35 mg g−1. Results of adsorption isotherm also confirmed that the adsorption process was mainly monolayer adsorption onto a surface containing a finite number of adsorption sites.

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