4-Mercaptobenzoic Acid Labeled Gold-Silver-Alloy-Embedded Silica Nanoparticles as an Internal Standard Containing Nanostructures for Sensitive Quantitative Thiram Detection

In this study, SiO(2)@Au@4-MBA@Ag (4-mercaptobenzoic acid labeled gold-silver-alloy-embedded silica nanoparticles) nanomaterials were investigated for the detection of thiram, a pesticide. First, the presence of Au@4-MBA@Ag alloys on the surface of SiO(2) was confirmed by the broad bands of ultraviolet-visible spectra in the range of 320–800 nm. The effect of the 4-MBA (4-mercaptobenzoic acid) concentration on the Ag shell deposition and its intrinsic SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering) signal was also studied. Ag shells were well coated on SiO(2)@Au@4-MBA in the range of 1–1000 µM. The SERS intensity of thiram-incubated SiO(2)@Au@4-MBA@Ag achieved the highest value by incubation with 500 µL thiram for 30 min, and SERS was measured at 200 µg/mL SiO(2)@Au@4-MBA@Ag. Finally, the SERS intensity of thiram at 560 cm(−1) increased proportionally with the increase in thiram concentration in the range of 240–2400 ppb, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 72 ppb.