Abstract:

In this study, the surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was used to determine 1propanethiol and 2propanethiol in liquid gasoline samples, and a simple, rapid method for the quantification of 1propanethiol and 2propanethiol was developed. By using  silver nanoparticles as substrate, the influence of experimental parameters, such as the  concentration of sodium chloride, incubation time and pH of the system on SERS performance was examined. The experimental parameters were optimized in order to achieve the optimal SERS signals. The mass concentrations of 1
propanethiol and 2propanethiol in a certain range showed a good linear relationship with the enhanced SERS intensities under the optimum conditions of the experiment. With r>0.998 1, the limits of detection of the two mercaptans were 0.86 mg/L and 0.12 mg/L respectively. Experiments of commercial gasoline samples were also performed by this method, and the recoveries were 6288%—11151%, RSD≤894%. The experimental results indicate that the present method for  determing of mercaptans has a higher credibility.

Key words: surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS), mercaptan; gasoline