Ultratrace Naked-Eye Colorimetric Detection of Hg²⁺ in Wastewater and Serum Utilizing Mercury-Stimulated Peroxidase Mimetic Activity of Reduced Graphene Oxide-PEI-Pd Nanohybrids

Herein, we developed a general strategy for rapid, highly selective, and ultratrace naked-eye colorimetric detection of Hg²⁺ in aqueous solutions. Two dimensional rGO/PEI/Pd nanohybrids, where rGO, PEI, and Pd were referred to as reduced graphene oxide, polyethylenimine, and Pd nanoparticles, respectively, were synthesized and used as mimetic peroxidase for selective and ultrasensitive detection of Hg²⁺ in water and human serum samples. In the presence of mercury ions, the peroxidase mimetic activity of rGO/PEI/Pd nanohybrids was found to be stimulated and enhanced significantly, which promoted the effective oxidation and color change of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in solution to dark blue that was detected by the naked-eye and the absorption spectroscopic method. The proposed sensing strategy coupled with spectroscopic detection method showed an ultralow detection limit of 0.39 nM for Hg²⁺ in ddH₂O and ∼1 nM in wastewater as well as serum samples, respectively. On the basis of the colorimetric assay, a minimum concentration of ∼10 nM for Hg²⁺ in wastewater and human serum can be detected with the naked-eye. The naked-eye-based colorimetric assay for sensitive and selective detection of mercury is expected to hold huge potentials in applications such as environmental monitoring, clinical diagnosis, and pharmaceutical analysis.