Analytical Sciences

A Method for the Highly Selective, Colorimetric and Ratiometric Detection of Hg²⁺ in a 100% Aqueous Solution

Jingkai LIU, Zhenghe XU, Lirong XU, Zhen BIAN, Guoqing SANG, and Baocun ZHU

School of Resources and Environment, University of Jinan, Shandong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Ecological Carbon Sink and Capture Utilization, Jinan 250022, China

Mercury (Hg) and its derivatives pose a serious threat to the environment and human health. Thus, the development of methods for the selective and sensitive determination of Hg²⁺ is very important to understand its distribution, and to implement more detailed toxicological studies. Herein, we developed a new method for the detection of Hg²⁺ based on the tricyanoethylene derivative and mercaptoethanol. This method could selectively detect Hg²⁺ in a 100% aqueous solution by the naked-eye within the range of 1 – 60 μM. Importantly, this method also could detect Hg²⁺ quantitatively by ratiometic absorption spectroscopy in the range of 0.1 – 6 μM with a detection limit of 55 nM. We anticipate that this proposed method will be used widely to monitor Hg²⁺ in the environment.

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