Gold nanoparticle-based nano-probe for the colorimetric sensing of Cr3+ and Cr2O72− by the coordination strategy

In this work, an N-T/gold nanoparticle system was assembled for the convenient and colorimetric identification of Cr based on its coordination chemistry with the thymine derivative (N-T). In addition to the visible colorimetric changes for the qualitative Cr identification, the A630 nm/520 nm values changed linearly with Cr concentration over a range of 0.5–2.5 μM and the detection limits reached 0.03 μM and 0.07 μM for Cr3+ and Cr2O72−, respectively, both of which satisfied the Cr water quality standards of the U.S. EPA, WHO and China. Furthermore, a more convenient method was developed for quantitative determination of Cr concentrations in practical samples based on the Eyedropper function in Microsoft's PowerPoint software, wherein the RGB (red, green and blue) value of the sample could be easily screened in the colorimetric card for a more accurate result with good recovery, avoiding complicated instrumentation.