Visual Detection and Recovery of Mercury in Water and Blood Samples Using Nano-membrane Tubular Architectures

Abstract

Engineered control over one-dimensional (1D) mesoporous silica nanotubes (NTs) inside anodic alumina membranes (AAMs) has led to various methods for detecting, visualizing, adsorbing, filtering, and recovering ultra-trace concentrations of toxic metal ions, such as Hg2+ and Pb2+, in water and blood. These often “one-pot” screening methods offer advantages over conventional methods in that they do not need sophisticated instruments or laborious sample preparation. This mesoscopic membrane sensor for the nakedeye detection micro-object have large surface area-to-volume ratios and uniformly shaped pores in threedimensional nanoscale gyroidal structures and its active sites consist of heteroatoms arranged around uniformly shaped pores in three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale gyroidal mesostructures densely coated with the chelating ligand so it permits ultra-fast, specific, pH-dependent visualization and removal of toxic metals at low concentrations from aqueous media, including drinking water and a suspension of red blood cells by means of a colorimetric signal visible to the naked eye, as well as by means of UV–vis reflectance spectroscopy. Removal of target ions from biological fluids was assessed by means of flow cytometric analysis. Our results demonstrate the potential for our membrane sensors to be used for preventing the health risks associated with exposure to toxic metal ions in the environment and blood.