Nafion membrane incorporated with silver nanoparticles as optical test strip for dissolved hydrogen peroxide: Preparation, deployment and the mechanism of action

We report the preparation of an optical test strip for quantitative assay of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in aqueous solution. Silver nanoparticles(AgNPs) with good optical quality are synthesized by in-situ reduction of silver ions in Nafion-117 membrane previously absorbed with ascorbate ion (HA(-)). The nanocomposite membrane exhibits a narrow Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) band at 413 nm. The extent of decrease in intensity of the LSPR band in presence of H2O2 solution gives quantitative estimate of H2O2 concentration. The detector has been found to show a good analytical response towards H2O2 detection at pH 7 over a wide concentration range. The detection limit has been calculated to be 2.6 x 10(-8) mol L-1, which is lower than the conventional enzyme based biosensors. The present test strip has been succesfully employed for the quantitative assay of H2O2 in milk. The mechanism of change in LSPR in presence of H2O2 (1.0 x 10(-3) mol L-1) has been explored for the first time using time resolved Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and radiotracer techniques. The results show that at this concentration of H2O2, its sharp oxidative sawing action is responsible for cutting off the nanoparticles into smaller fragments resulting in rapid reduction of absorption crossection. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.