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Updated: May 2, 2026

An Anaerobic Biosensor Assay for the Detection of Mercury and Cadmium
Published on: December 17, 2018
Ultrasensitive, rapid, and selective detection of mercury using graphene assisted laser desorption/ionization mass
Hani Nasser Abdelhamid1, Hui-Fen Wu
1Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 804, Taiwan.
Abstract:
We report an extremely sensitive and specific detection of mercuric ions (Hg²⁺) based on graphene assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (GALDI-MS). Combining the highly selective coordination interactions between thymine (T) and Hg²⁺, we present a simple, effective, and novel approach, based on π-π interactions of the T-Hg²⁺-T complex and G that can serve as a platform and matrix for GALDI-MS. The present sensor not only exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity (picomolar) to Hg²⁺ in aqueous solution, but also can elucidate the chemical structures of the metal complexes. The significant advantage in the current approach is that there is no need for a sophisticated instrument, and no sample pretreatment is required to detect the Hg²⁺ ions.
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