Eco-friendly green synthesis of functionalized mesoporous silica nanospheres for the determination of Al(III) ions in multiple samples of different kinds of water

Abstract The current work proposed a new green procedure that is not sophisticated to recognize and determine the Al(III) ions in multiple water samples. The suggested method was conducted based upon the direct immobilization of aurintricarboxylic acid reagent into the mesoporous silica nanospheres to shape a unique and novel solid sensor. Al(III)-ATA red-complex has been formed at pH 4.0 and spectrophotometrically measured at 525 nm. Moreover, the complexation was reversible, and the ATA sensor retained his functionality even after six-time reuse/cycles using EDTA as eluent. Univariate and multivariate (partial least squares 1, PLS-1) calibration techniques were utilized for calculating the figures of merit for the determination of the Al(III) ions. The obtained calibration curve was linear from 2.0 to 70 ppb Al(III) ions concentration. The developed method has a detection limit of 3.5 ppb. In addition, the ATA sensor showed high adsorption capacity value (118.53 mg/g) which gives it a great advantage to be applicable as nanocollector for trapping Al(III) ions. The novel ATA sensor showed high degree of selectivity, sensitivity, reproducibility, and stability. The current study explores the effectiveness of the ATA sensor for the first time to produce a green solid sensor to determine the trace amount of Al(III) in diverse water types; tap, mineral, river, well, and sea water.