Durable Nanocellulose-Stabilized Emulsions of Dithizone/Chloroform in Water for Hg²⁺ Detection: A Novel Approach for a Classical Problem.

ABSTRACT: The use of dithizone (DTZ) for colorimetric heavy-metal detection is approximately one century old. However, its pending stability issues and the need for simple indicators justify further research. Using cellulose nanofibers, we attained DTZ-containing emulsions with high stability. These emulsions had water (at least 95 wt %) and acetic acid (1-8 mL/L) conforming the continuous phase, while dispersed droplets of diameter <1 μm contained chloroform-solvated DTZ (3 wt %). The solvation cluster was computed by molecular dynamics simulations, suggesting that chloroform slightly reduces the dihedral angle between the two sides of the thiocarbazone chain. Nanocellulose concentrations over 0.2 wt % sufficed to obtain macroscopically homogeneous mixtures with no phase separation. Furthermore, th

SUBMITTER: Aguado RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9999351 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature