Abstract
The decomposition dynamics of thimerosal in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution was monitored using in situ measurements of photoluminescence (PL) from GaAs(001) substrate. The intensity of the GaAs PL peak is modulated by the presence of thimerosal, resulting in a characteristic PL maximum observed after ∼5h from the onset of the experiment. We interpret this result as a competition between the formation of PBS-related nonradiative recombination centers on the surface of GaAs and passivation of the GaAs surface by thiosalicylic acid (TSA) reacting with As and Ga atoms of the substrate. The amplitude of the TSA PL maximum was found to depend on the concentration of thimerosal in PBS. The decomposition of thimerosal was also verified with UV−vis optical absorption measurements. The presence of the decomposition products, TSA and ethyl mercuric chloride, on the GaAs(001) substrate was demonstrated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The results indicate that the investigated method has the potential to provide a practical means for rapid detection of thimerosal in some pharmaceutical products.
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