High precision and rapid toxic metals detection is one of the vital requirements today to overcome the environmental problems. Here we report a rapid colorimetric method to detect Hg(II) ion with high selectivity, specificity and sensitivity using Tri-sodium citrate functionalized Ag NPs-Polyethylene glycol (PEG) nanocomposites (NCs) in aqueous environmental samples and the evaluation of its photocatalytic, and antimicrobial activity. The characterization was done using UV–vis spectrophotometer, FTIR, particle size analyzer, XRD, EDS, TEM, and zeta analyzer. The effective diameter of NCs was 8 ± 1.1 nm and the value of zeta potential was −33.13 ± 4 mV. An excellent linear relationship was exhibited between the accelerating Hg(II) ion concentrations and the absorbance value at 392 nm under optimum conditions. The colour change was specific when Ag NPs-PEG NCs interacted with Hg(II) ion. The study of influence of various metal ions, pH, salinity and temperature was investigated. The anti-microbial property was evaluated against E. coli and B. subtilis, and it also showed good visible light driven photocatalytic activity. The study can be extensively used in various aqueous samples with high precision and accuracy as a potential applicant for Hg(II) ion detection, and it also can be used as an excellent photocatalytic and anti-microbial agent.

高精度和快速的有毒金属检测是当今解决环境问题的重要要求之一。在这里，我们报告了一种快速比色法，用于在含水环境样品中使用柠檬酸三钠官能化的Ag NPs-聚乙二醇（PEG）纳米复合材料（NCs）来检测Hg（II）离子，具有高选择性，特异性和敏感性，并对其光催化性能进行了评估，和抗菌活性。使用紫外可见分光光度计，FTIR，粒度分析仪，XRD，EDS，TEM和zeta分析仪进行表征。NC的有效直径为8±1.1 nm，ζ电位值为-33.13±4 mV。在最佳条件下，加速的Hg（II）离子浓度与392 nm处的吸光度值之间显示出极好的线性关系。当Ag NPs-PEG NCs与Hg（II）离子相互作用时，颜色变化是特定的。研究了各种金属离子，pH，盐度和温度的影响。评估了抗菌性能大肠杆菌和枯草芽孢杆菌，并且还显示出良好的可见光驱动的光催化活性。该研究可广泛用于各种水性样品中，具有较高的精确度和准确性，可作为Hg（II）离子检测的潜在申请人，也可作为一种出色的光催化和抗菌剂。