Quantitative detection of gold nanoparticles in soil and sediment

Yu-Pei Gao; Yuan Yang; Lei Li; Wen-Jing Wei; Hai Xu; Qiang Wang; Ya-Qun Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2020.03.005

Quantitative detection of gold nanoparticles in soil and sediment

Anal Chim Acta. 2020 May 8:1110:72-81. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.03.005. Epub 2020 Mar 7.

Authors

Yu-Pei Gao¹, Yuan Yang², Lei Li¹, Wen-Jing Wei¹, Hai Xu³, Qiang Wang⁴, Ya-Qun Qiu⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, PR China; Center for Environment and Water Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, No. 932 Lushan Nan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, 410083, PR China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Water Environment and Agriculture Product Safety, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, PR China.
² College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, PR China; International Joint Laboratory of Hunan Agricultural Typical Pollution Restoration and Water Resources Safety Utilization, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, PR China.
³ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, PR China.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, PR China; Center for Environment and Water Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, No. 932 Lushan Nan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, 410083, PR China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Water Environment and Agriculture Product Safety, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, PR China. Electronic address: qwangcsu@csu.edu.cn.
⁵ Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Changsha, 410004, Hunan, PR China; Hunan Provincial Key Lab of Water Pollution Control Technology, Changsha, 410004, Hunan, PR China. Electronic address: qiuyaqun9186@163.com.

PMID: 32278402
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.03.005

Abstract

Ever-growing application of engineering nanoparticles in many sectors of the society requires efficient methods to extract them from soil and sediment, for the sake of environmental protection. In this study, we develop a new method which uses sodium pyrophosphate solution (TSPP, Na₄P₂O₇) as extratant to extract gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) from soil and sediment under optimized parameters through vortexing, water bath oscillation, ultrasonic bath and precipitation. SP-ICP-MS was used for the detection of number concentration, mass concentration and size distribution of AuNPs in soil. UV irradiation was innovatively used to directly degrade soil organic matter to improve the recovery of AuNPs due to their low recovery rate in rich organic soils. It could be found that the mass fraction recovery increased from 36% (without UV digestion) to 83% (with 48h UV digestion). The extraction method is versatile for different coating layers and wide-ranging particle sizes in real soil and sediment. Therefore, the rapid and efficient characterization and quantification of AuNPs in soil and sediment are achieved, and the researches on the extraction method of AuNPs and their behavior and toxicity assessment in soil environment can be enriched.

Keywords: Extract gold nanoparticle; Organic matter; Sediment; Soil; UV digestion.