High-selective removal of ultra-low level mercury ions from aqueous solution using oligothymonucleic acid functionalized polyethylene film

We prepare oligothymonucleic acid (OTA) functionalized polyethylene (PE) film and evaluate its selective removal ability of mercury ions at ultra-low levels in aqueous solution. The selective binding of OTA with mercury ions is confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The quantitative results via cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS) indicate that OTA-functionalized PE film is able to remove mercury ions at the sub-ppb level selectively from aqueous solution, even with the coexistence of other metal ions at concentrations 250-fold or higher than that of mercury.