Evaluating graphene oxide and gold nanocomposites (GO@AuNPs) as adsorbents for preconcentration of tetramethyl thiuram disulfide(thiram) from natural waters and as thiram antidotes for in vivo application

In this work, nanocomposites of GO@AuNPs were synthesised to be used for trace determination of thiram in both biological and water samples. The morphology and structure of nanocomposites which were characterised by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), revealed their successful preparation with particle size diameters in the range of 60 to100 nm. According to the optimised experimental conditions, relative standard deviation (RSD) and detection of limit (LOD) for thiram were 4.5% and1.2 mg L-1 (for 15.0mg L(-1)thiram, n = 7), respectively. The adsorption kinetics studies revealed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model where the corresponding process was spontaneous and endothermic. The isotherm investigations showed that the Freundlich isotherm had more ability for fitting equilibrium data.