Analytical Sciences

Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor for Novel Detection of Histidine Based on the Hg²⁺ Induced Aggregation of AuNPs Followed by Preconcentration with Chitosan Gel as Solid Phase Biosorbent

Yuwapon UPPA, Supalax SRIJARANAI, and Saksit CHANTHAI

Materials Chemistry Research Center, Department of Chemistry and Center of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand

This research work aims to propose an extraction method using chitosan as the sorbent and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as the colorimetric sensor for the development of a simple, cost-effective, rapid, sensitive, and selective detection method for histidine. The colorimetric assay is based on the aggregation of AuNPs in the presence of Hg²⁺ ions and histidine. The state of AuNPs generally changes from dispersion to aggregation. The change in state is accompanied by a corresponding change in color (from red wine to blue). Therefore, the solid phase extraction (SPE) method using chitosan as the sorbent was used to extract the AuNPs to improve the sensitivity of detection. It was found that the extraction by means of a sensor system using chitosan could increase the detection signal for histidine by 10 times. The calibration curve, which is the plot of absorbance ratio (A₆₅₀/A₅₂₈) against the concentration of histidine, shows a linear relation in the concentration range of 100 – 800 nM. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method were found to be 99.88 and 107.45 nM, respectively. Good recoveries were also obtained (range: 99.75 – 104.43%) with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 5.89% in real water samples. Moreover, this method can be used for the selective detection of histidine even in the presence of other amino acids. The proposed method has been successfully used in the determination of histidine in mineral water samples.

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