Antimony (Sb) is a toxic element which causes different health problems including cardiac problems and lung cancer in humans, and its levels in surface water can be noticeably increased to 100 μg/L typically in the proximity of anthropogenic sources. Thus, besides instrumental techniques, it is of great significance to develop a simple, sensitive and selective analytical method for direct analysis of Sb(III) at trace level without the need of any expensive and/or complicated instrumentations and sample preparation processes. Herein, a simple and sensitive headspace colorimetric assay was developed for the detection of Sb(III) by hydride generation coupled with thioglycolic acid functionalized gold nanoparticles (TGA-AuNPs). Sb(III) in the 30 mL sample solution was converted into its volatile form (SbH3) through hydride generation reaction and headspace extracted into 100 μL chromogenic reagent, which contains methanol as extractant and TGA-AuNPs as nanosensors, leading to aggregation of TGA-AuNPs and therefore a red-to-blue color change. Parameters influencing the chromogenic and hydride generation reactions were optimized. Addition of 300 μM ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as masking agent largely suppressed the inferences from mercury and arsenic. The proposed method can tolerate at least 10-fold As(III) and 100-fold other metal ions including Hg(II). The detection limits were 6.0 and 1.2 μg/L Sb(III) by naked-eye and UV-Vis spectrometer, respectively, which meet the maximum admissible level in drinking water (6 μg/L) set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The feasibility of the proposed method was demonstrated by rapid detection of Sb(III) in river water, lake water, ground water and sea water samples by naked-eye at a spiking level of 6 μg/L Sb(III).

中文翻译：

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氢化物生成与巯基乙酸包覆的金纳米粒子相结合，作为用于视觉检测 Sb(III) 的简单而灵敏的顶空比色法

锑 (Sb) 是一种有毒元素，会导致不同的健康问题，包括人类的心脏问题和肺癌，在人为来源附近，它在地表水中的含量通常会显着增加到 100 微克/升。因此，除了仪器技术之外，开发一种简单、灵敏和选择性的分析方法来直接分析痕量级的 Sb(III) 而不需要任何昂贵和/或复杂的仪器和样品制备过程具有重要意义。在此，开发了一种简单而灵敏的顶空比色法，用于通过氢化物生成与巯基乙酸功能化金纳米粒子 (TGA-AuNPs) 检测 Sb(III)。30 mL 样品溶液中的 Sb(III) 通过氢化物生成反应转化为挥发性形式 (SbH3)，顶空萃取到 100 μL 显色试剂中，其中包含甲醇作为萃取剂和 TGA-AuNPs 作为纳米传感器，导致 TGA- AuNPs，因此红色到蓝色的颜色变化。对影响显色和氢化物生成反应的参数进行了优化。添加 300 μM 乙二胺四乙酸 (EDTA) 作为掩蔽剂在很大程度上抑制了汞和砷的推断。所提出的方法可以耐受至少 10 倍的 As(III) 和 100 倍的其他金属离子，包括 Hg(II)。肉眼和紫外可见分光光度计的检测限分别为 6.0 和 1.2 μg/L Sb(III)，符合美国环境保护署规定的饮用水中最高允许水平（6 μg/L）。通过肉眼快速检测河水、湖水、地下水和海水样品中 6 μg/L Sb(III) 的 Sb(III)，证明了该方法的可行性。