14.01.2013 Views

Analytical Chemistry Chemical Cytometry Quantitates Superoxide

Analytical Chemistry Chemical Cytometry Quantitates Superoxide

Analytical Chemistry Chemical Cytometry Quantitates Superoxide

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Figure 2. (A, B) Effect of the concentration of (A) Hg 2+ and (B) Ag + on the composition ratio of (A) Au to Ag and (B) Au to Hg of the precipitates.<br />

A series of concentration of (A) 0-1000 nM Hg 2+ and (B) 0-1000 nM Ag + was added to 1.0 mL of 0.48 nM Tween 20-AuNPs. The precipitates<br />

were obtained by five cycles of centrifugation of the resulting solutions. (C, D) EDX spectra of the precipitates obtained after the addition of (a)<br />

0.1, (b) 1, and (c) 10 µM (C) Hg 2+ and (D) Ag + to a solution of 0.48 nM Tween 20-AuNPs. Tween 20-AuNPs are prepared in 20 mM phosphate<br />

at pH 12.0. The incubation time is 5 min.<br />

extinction values of the solution at 650 and 520 nm corresponded<br />

to the quantities of dispersed and aggregated AuNPs, respectively.<br />

Thus, the molar ratio of dispersed to aggregated AuNPs can be<br />

expressed by the ratio of the extinction value Ex at 650 nm to<br />

that at 520 nm (Ex650 nm/Ex520 nm). As shown in Figure 3A, the<br />

addition of both Hg2+ and Ag + to a solution of Tween 20-AuNPs<br />

resulted in a high value of Ex650 nm/Ex520 nm. However, when<br />

we replaced Tween 20 with Tween 40, the value of Ex650 nm/<br />

Ex520 nm became small. This suggests a relatively small amount<br />

of Hg-Au alloys or Ag on the surface of Tween 40-modified<br />

AuNPs, resulting in a small degree of NP aggregation. Similar<br />

phenomena were observed in the case of Tween 60- and Tween<br />

80-modifed AuNPs. To further confirm our hypothesis, ICP-<br />

MS was used to determine the composition of the NPs. After<br />

adding 1 µM Hg2+ to different kinds of AuNPs, the concentrations<br />

of Hg in Tween 20-, 40-, 60-, and 80-modified AuNPs were<br />

148, 64, 58, and 51 ppb, respectively. Similarly, upon the<br />

addition of 1 µM Ag + , the concentrations of Ag in Tween 20-,<br />

40-, 60-, and 80-modified AuNPs were 65, 19, 24, and 25 ppb,<br />

respectively. On the basis of these results, Tween 20 was<br />

selected for the following studies.<br />

Previous studies have shown that the sensitivity of a AuNPbased<br />

sensor is highly dependent on the concentration of<br />

6834 <strong>Analytical</strong> <strong>Chemistry</strong>, Vol. 82, No. 16, August 15, 2010<br />

AuNPs. 44 At relatively high concentrations of Tween 20-AuNPs,<br />

the deposition of Hg2+ or Ag + on the surface of a single particle<br />

decreased, reducing the degree of NP aggregation. Moreover,<br />

the aggregation rate of NPs increased with increasing NP<br />

concentration. It can be seen that the optimum concentrations<br />

of Tween 20-AuNPs for sensing Hg2+ and Ag + were 0.24 and<br />

0.48 nM, respectively, when the incubation time was fixed at 5<br />

min (Figure 3B). Moreover, we investigated the effect of Na3PO4<br />

concentration on the colorimetric sensitivity of Tween 20-<br />

AuNPs to Hg2+ and Ag + .SI Figure S5 shows that the zeta<br />

potential of Tween 20-AuNPs reduced with increasing Na3PO4<br />

concentration, implying that electrostatic repulsion between<br />

Tween 20-AuNPs decreased with increasing ionic strength of<br />

the solution. Thus, under conditions of high ionic strength, the<br />

slight electrostatic repulsion between Tween 20-AuNPs provided<br />

a low barrier for metal-ion-induced NP aggregation. As<br />

expected, the difference in Ex650 nm/Ex520 nm for the cases with<br />

and without 1.0 µM Hg2+ gradually increased with increasing<br />

Na3PO4 concentration and reached a plateau at 80 mM Na3PO4<br />

(Figure 3C). A similar effect was found in the analysis of Ag +<br />

(Figure 3D). Consequently, 80 mM Na3PO4 was chosen for the<br />

following studies.<br />

(44) Huang, C.-C.; Tseng, W.-L. Anal. Chem. 2008, 80, 6345–6350.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!