Synthesis of silver nanowires as a SERS substrate for the detection of pesticide thiram

•The silver nanomaterials with different structures were synthesized by a simple method.•The pesticide residues of thiram are detected by SERS.•The lower concentration of thiram was detected.

Silver nanowires with uniform diameters have been synthesized via the rapid sulfide mediated polyol method. The morphology, structure, and properties of as-prepared samples are characterized by UV–Visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The mechanism of as-prepared Ag nanowires is provided and discussed. Moreover, as-prepared Ag nanowires are used as a Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrate to detect thiram pesticide. The results show that this substrate based on Ag nanowires exhibits high sensitivity and reproducibility for the thiram detection.

Graphical abstractThe single-crystal silver nanowires with good draw ratios and smooth surfaces have been synthesized by a simple sulfide-mediated polyol method and used as a SERS substrate for the detection of pesticide thiram. The values of RSD are lower than 20%. The result shows as-prepared Ag nanowires SERS substrate has high sensitivity and reproducibility for thiram (sulfur-containing pesticide).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide