Determination of thiomersal and mercurial residues by photo-degradation and flow injection analysis with luminescence probing using carbon quantum dots prepared from thiourea
Claudiomar R. Franco,
Jarol R. Miranda-Andrades,
Carlos A.T. Toloza,
Dunieskys G. Larrudé,
Luis Maqueira-Espinosa,
Ricardo Q. Aucelio,
Anna De Falco,
Marlin J. Pedrozo-Peñafiel
Affiliations
Claudiomar R. Franco
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil
Jarol R. Miranda-Andrades
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil
Carlos A.T. Toloza
Department of Natural and Exact Sciences, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia
Dunieskys G. Larrudé
Engineering School, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo, Brazil
Luis Maqueira-Espinosa
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil
Ricardo Q. Aucelio
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil; Correspondent author.
Anna De Falco
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil
Marlin J. Pedrozo-Peñafiel
Chemistry Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil
Thiomersal is an organomercurial compound but, despite that, it is widely used in vaccines formulations to inactivate organisms and toxins and to prevent microbial growth during storage and use. In this work, thiomersal (along with traces of mercurial residues) was determined after photo-degradation (using UV and H2O2) to produce Hg2+ that was determined by flow injection analysis using luminescence probing with carbon quantum dots (prepared from citric acid and thiourea). Linear analytical response was observed in the concentration range of 25 to 900 µg L−1 and the method was efficiently applied to the determination of thiomersal in vaccines against hepatitis B and diphtheria-tetanus with recoveries ranging from 93 to 94%.
