Chemiluminescence catalysed by gold nanoparticles for the analysis of arsenic (III) in real water

A gold nanoparticle (AuNPs)-catalysed chemiluminescence (CL) method is developed for the analysis of As3+ cations by detecting the enhancement of the luminol–H2O2 reaction by AuNPs. AuNPs of different sizes were prepared by a chemical method. The size and shape of these nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy. The various parameters of the reaction media such as the pH and the concentration of H2O2 and luminol were optimised. The enhancement of the CL intensity may be as a result of energy transfer by the AuNPs or plasmon-induced enhancement. The interaction of the AuNPs with As3+ amplified the CL signal. This amplified CL was used to detect As3+ in real water samples. The linear region of the calibration curve from 0.3 to 4 µg/L shows that this is a suitable method for the detection of low concentrations of arsenic (III).