Towards the Detection of Lead Contaminates in Water Using Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

Lead contamination poses serious health and environmental risks. In water, lead is dangerous because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Currently, there are few easy methods of detecting lead in water that can be done without the use of sophisticated equipment. This research is to review the current methods of using different functionalized gold nanoparticles, which exhibit a colorimetric response in the presence of lead contaminated water, in the field. At present, there are several methods of functionalizing gold nanoparticles for the detection of lead, but many of these methods require complex procedures and expensive components. Here, we will focus on two emerging nanoparticle functionalizers, 11-Mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) and Glutathione (GSH). Future applications of nanoparticles functionalized with these compounds would involve dispersing them in a membrane, which could be used anywhere from household faucets to water treatment plants, and could act as a simple, cost-effective sensing device in the presence of lead contamination