In this paper, we have synthesized silver nanoshell for detection of
heavy metal ions in water using chemical reduction method. Silver
nanoparticles exhibit strong surface plasmon resonance peak at 433 nm
whereas silver nanoshell shows surface plasmon resonance peak at 450
nm. The surface plasmon resonance band of silver nanoshells was
found to be sensitive to the presence of toxic ions in the water. One of
the most exciting accomplishments is the minimum detection limit for
Hg2+ which is found to be 0.01 mL in water with good sensitivity. The
detection of heavy metal ion such as Hg2+ using silver nanoshells of
size 202 nm with 28 nm shell thickness was developed. The sizes and
shapes of nanoshells were tuned by selecting the reducing and capping
agents. The nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-Vis
spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy