Determination of the sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate (mesna) was determined using unmodified gold colloid as the probe. The Raman scattering intensity was obviously enhanced in the presence of sodium chloride. The influence of experimental parameters, such as incubation time, sodium chloride concentration and pH value on SERS performance was examined. Under the optimum conditions, the SERS intensity is proportional to the concentration of mesna in the range of 9.0 x 10(-8) to 9.0 x 10(-7) mol/L and detection limit (S/N = 3) is 1.16 x 10(-8) mol/L The corresponding correlation coefficient of the linear equation is 0.996, which indicates that there is a good linear relationship between SERS intensity and mesna concentration. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is a viable method for determination of mesna. The real samples were analyzed and the results obtained were satisfactory. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.