In situ formation of silver nanoparticles via hydride generation: A miniaturized/portable visual colorimetric system for arsenic detection in environmental water samples

A miniaturized/portable visual colorimetric system based on hydride generation headspace solid phase extraction (HG-HS-SPE) was proposed for arsenic detection by naked eyes. As(III) was transformed into AsH3via hydride generation process, the volatile AsH3 was introduced into reaction bottle and reacted with AgNO3 subsequently. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were generated in situ, resulting in the color changed from white to black, it could be readout by naked eyes or a smartphone application (color extraction, for RGB readout). The interferences from 9 common ions and 10 conventional hydride generation elements were discussed, the results demonstrated that the proposed method exhibit a good anti-interference. The proposed visual colorimetric method was further applied to seven water samples and their spiked samples, and a certified reference water sample (GBW08605) for demonstrating its accuracy and applicability.