COLORIMETRIC SENSOR BASED ON SILVER NANOPARTICLES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE SULFUR COMPOUNDS

摘要

The invention relates to a colorimetric solid sensor for the detection and/or determination of volatile sulfurs in gases or in any matrix in which volatile sulfurs exist or are generated. The sensor is based on silver nanoparticles immobilised in a membrane. The sensor enables, in a portable (in situ) manner and in a passive manner, in only 10 minutes, simple detection/determination by visual observation, using the RGB coordinates of a digital image and/or diffuse reflectance. The sensor displays adequate selectivity for monitoring volatile sulfur compounds and it has been observed that same do not interfere in the detection of other volatile compounds such as a amines, ethanol or acetone. The detector has good sensitivity, with detection and quantification limits of 45 ppb v/v and 150 ppb v/v, respectively, obtained by measuring colour by means of diffuse reflectance.