Cationic polymers and aptamers mediated aggregation of gold nanoparticles for the colorimetric detection of arsenic(III) in aqueous solution.

As(III) specifically interacts with an arsenic-binding aptamer to form an As(III)-aptamer complex, so that the following cationic polymer can aggregate gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and cause a remarkable change in color, which enables the colorimetric detection of As(III) with high selectivity and a detection limit of 5.3 ppb. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012