Binding Mechanism and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering of the Antimicrobial Sulfathiazole on Gold Nanoparticles.

A combined study using the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique and quantum chemical calculations was carried out to elucidate the adsorption behavior of sulfathiazole, an antibiotic drug, on gold nanoparticles. The tetrahedral Au cluster was used as a simple model to mimic a nanostructured gold surface. Computations using density functional theory with the PBE functional were performed in both the gas phase and aqueous medium using a continuum model.