Identification and Speciation of Nanoscale Silver in Complex Solid Matrices by Sequential Extraction Coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Nanoscale silver (n-Ag) including silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), silver chloride nanoparticles (AgCl-NPs), and silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag₂S-NPs) and their corresponding ionic counterpart, namely, dissolved Ag, may coexist in soils. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) is used to elucidate the speciation of n-Ag in soils, whereas it possesses drawbacks like high costs, rare availability of the instrument, and providing semiquantitative data. We developed a new method for the identification and speciation of n-Ag in soils and sediments based on a sequential extraction technique coupled with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Extraction conditions were first evaluated, establishing the optimal extraction procedure; Ag-NPs, AgCl-NPs, and dissolved Ag in soil were simultaneously extracted by using an aqueous solution of 10 mM tetrasodium pyrophosphate, followed by selective isolation and quantification via AgCl-NPs dissolution (4.45 M aqueous ammonia), centrifugation (Ag-NPs), and detection. The Ag₂S-NPs remaining in the soil were then extracted with Na₂S solution at pH 7.0 through selective complexation. Optimal recoveries of Ag-NPs, AgCl-NPs, Ag₂S-NPs, and dissolved Ag were 99.1 ± 2.4%, 112.0 ± 3.4%, 96.4 ± 4.0%, and 112.2 ± 4.1%, respectively. The method was validated to investigate the speciation of n-Ag in soils and sediments, exhibiting the distribution of Ag-NPs, AgCl-NPs, Ag₂S-NPs, and dissolved Ag in each sample, wherein Ag₂S-NPs, the major species of n-Ag, accounted for 35.42–68.87% of the total Ag. The results of n-Ag speciation in soil are comparable to those obtained through the linear combination fitting of XANES. This method thus is a powerful, yet convenient, substitute for XANES to understand the speciation of n-Ag in complex solid matrices.