Bis-Thiophene based colorimetric chemosensor for selective recognition of silver in semi-aqueous medium

[Display omitted] •Thiophene based BTM Schiff’s base was effectively synthesized and established for selective and sensitive recognition of Ag+ ion in (CH3CN:H2O, 7:3, v/v) medium.•The chromogenic technique reveals a noticeable color shift from yellow to colorless.•Low detection (LOD) found to be 9.55 × 10−8 M for Ag+ detection in semi-aqueous medium.•BTM has been efficiently used during real-time applications like water sample analysis and hydrogel beads methods for Ag+ detection. A new simple Schiff’s base probe BTM has been designed, synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, IR, and mass spectroscopic techniques. The probe BTM act as an effective colorimetric sensor for selective recognition of silver ion in semi-aqueous medium (CH3CN:H2O, 8:2, v/v). A distinct color change was noticed from pale yellow to colorless on treatment with semi-aqueous Ag+ ion solution). UV–Vis titrations and Job’s plot were validated the stoichiometric binding ratio of probe and Ag+ ion. The detection limit was found to be 9.55 × 10−8 M which is lower than the WHO recommended limit of Ag+ in drinking water. Hence, the state-of-art method and real-life sample analysis supports that, the probe BTM could selectively sense presence of the Ag+ ion.