Thio-pyridinium capped silver nanoparticle based supramolecular recognition of Cu(i) in real samples and T-lymphocytes

Abstract

The newly synthesized cationic heterocyclic ligand 2 was characterized by NMR and mass spectrometric techniques. It showed great tendency to stabilize readily reducible silver salts and form silver nanoparticles (ThPy-AgNPs). The photophysical properties of these nanoconjugates (ThPy-AgNPs) were studied by AFM, UV-vis absorption and FT-IR spectroscopy. Moreover, the silver nanoparticles (ThPy-AgNPs) decorated with 2 recognizes Cu(I) in the presence of other competing metal ions making it a highly selective and sensitive nanosensor for the recognition of Cu(I) with a limit of detection of 2 μM which is much lower than its threshold level (∼20 μM) in drinking water permitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The nanosensor (ThPy-AgNPs) was screened in pH range of 1–12 and the accuracy was determined by recovery studies. Finally, atomic force microscopy was used to study the interaction of ThPy-AgNPs with Cu(I) in T lymphocytes. The ThPy-AgNPs also selectively recognized Cu(I) in human blood plasma. The utility of this system was also evaluated in real water samples.