Speciation Analysis of Silver Nanoparticles and Silver Ions in Antibacterial Products and Environmental Waters via Cloud Point Extraction-Based Separation

The rapid growth in commercial use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) will inevitably increase silver exposure in the environment and the general population. As the fate and toxic effects of AgNPs is related to the Ag+ released from AgNPs and the transformation of Ag+ into AgNPs, it is of great importance to develop methods for speciation analysis of AgNPs and Ag+. This study reports the use of Triton X-114-based cloud point extraction as an efficient separation approach for the speciation analysis of AgNPs and Ag+ in antibacterial products and environmental waters. AgNPs were quantified by determining the Ag content in the Triton X-114-rich phase with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) after microwave digestion. The concentration of total Ag+, which consists of the AgNP adsorbed, the matrix associated, and the freely dissolved, was obtained by subtracting the AgNP content from the total silver content that was determined by ICPMS after digestion. The limits of quantification (S/N = 10) for...