Eco-friendly synthesis of egg-white capped silver nanoparticles for rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of Hg(II)

The synthesis of egg-white (EW) capped silver nanoparticles (NPs) was carried-out in a one-step reaction using crude EWs, which is a reagent that can be easily found. These NPs were applied for the colorimetric detection of Hg2+ ions in solution. The results showed a blue shift of the surface plasmon absorption due to the decrease in Ag NP size upon incorporating Hg through the formation of an Ag–Hg amalgam shell. The probe was used for the selective determination of Hg2+ ions in tap water with excellent selectivity and sensitivity with a detection limit of about 300 nM.