Colorimetric determination of melamine by pyridine-3-boronic acid modified gold nanoparticles

A rapid, simple and sensitive colorimetric detection method for melamine was proposed based on pyridine-3-boronic acid (PBA) modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The formation of supramolecular hydrogen-bonded structure between PBA and melamine resulted in the aggregation of PBA modified AuNPs and the color change from red to blue. Melamine could be detected by colorimetric response of AuNPs that could be detected by naked eyes or a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The detection concentration of melamine ranged from 6.0 x 10(-8) to 1.6 x 10(-6) M, and the detection limit (3sigma) was 3.0 x 10(-8) M (i.e., 3.2 ppb). This provided an effective and facile colorimetric sensor for real-time and on-site determination of melamine. Particularly, the proposed method could be used to detect melamine in pretreated liquid milk products with high sensitivity and low interference, and the recoveries were from 95% to 102%.