Silver-miang nanocomposites: A green, rapid and simple approach for selective determination of nitrite in water and meat samples

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. A green, rapid, simple and reliable procedure was developed for nitrite determination using silver-miang nanocomposites as colorimetric agents and camera phone as a detector. The crude water extracts of miang (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) were adopted as natural reagents in a rapid one-pot microwave synthesis of the nanocomposites. The extracts’ phytochemical contents were studied and the synthesis conditions were optimized. The yielded nanocomposites were characterized by UV–vis and FT-IR spectroscopies, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and thermogravimetry, and proved to be reliable colorimetric agents and selective for nitrite. The underlying reactions were investigated. The linear calibration plots could be established based on the ratiometric R/G parameters over 2.0–10 mg∙L−1 nitrite concentration range with satisfying detection limits (0.12–0.62 mg∙L−1). In practice, the procedure was validated and applied with water and commercialized meat samples. The long storage time of miang (>5 years) was also evaluated, manifesting viability and reliability in views of both the nanocomposites synthesis and the nitrite determination performance.