UV-assisted photocatalytic synthesis of highly dispersed Ag nanoparticles supported on DNA decorated graphene for quantitative iodide analysis.

Herein, we report, for the first time, the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-DNA-Ag (RGO-DNA-Ag) nanohybrids by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of aqueous solutions of GO and Ag ions in the presence of DNA. The morphology and microstructure characterizations of the resultant nanohybrids reveal that the proposed method leads to the simultaneous reduction of GO and Ag ions together with efficient dispersion of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of RGO sheets. This simple and fast synthesis route is carried out at ambient conditions without using any additional chemical reducing agents, which has the potential to provide new avenues for the green fabrication of various RGO-based nanomaterials. Additionally, the RGO-DNA-Ag nanohybrids can be utilized as a novel sensing interfacial for direct determination of iodide by simple differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), without requiring any preceding preconcentration of the analyte. Based on the RGO-DNA-Ag nanohybrids modified electrode, a wide linear range of 1μM-1mM and a low detection limit of 0.2μM were obtained. This sensitive and direct method of analysis can be applied successfully to the determination of iodide in real samples.