Colorimetric detection of Cr6+ ions based on surface plasma resonance using the catalytic etching of gold nano-double cone @ silver nanorods

Hexavalent chromium ion (Cr6+) is highly toxic to human health and environment. Herein, high-performance detection of Cr6+ is of great import. In this study, a rapid and sensitive multicolor colorimetric method for detection of Cr6+ in aqueous solution was established on the basis of Cr6+ etching of gold nano-double [email protected] nanorods (Au [email protected] NRs). Au [email protected] NRs was synthesized by a modified seed-mediated growth method. The catalytic etching induced by Cr6+ changed the morphology of Au [email protected] NRs, leading to the attenuation of surface plasma resonance (SPR) and the redshift of absorption spectra. Meanwhile, Au [email protected] NRs exhibits obvious color changes from orange to pink, to purple, and finally becomes colorless with the increasing concentrations of Cr6+. With such a design, naked-eye detection of Cr6+ was realized with high sensitivity. The proposed multicolor sensing method showed a good linearity between the redshift change of absorption peak (△λ) and the concentrations of Cr6+ in the range from 2.5 to 40 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated as 1.69 μM in aqueous solution. In addition, successful detection of Cr6+ in tap water and Yangtze River water, indicating the real applications of Au [email protected] NRs probe in monitoring Cr6+ in environment.