Spectrofluorimetric Determination of Trace Amounts of Europium(III) Ion with Lutetium(III)-Sparfloxacin-Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Luminescence Enhancement System

Abstract

A new luminescence-enhancement system based on complex formation between europium and sparfloxacin in the presence of lutetium in a sodium dodecyl sulfate solution has been discovered. By adding a suitable amount of Lu³⁺ to the Eu-sparfloxacin-sodium dodecyl sulfate system, the luminescence can be enhanced by approximately 5-fold compared with that of the system without Lu³⁺. Under the optimum conditions, the luminescence intensity of the system is a linear function of the concentration of europium in the range of 1.0 × 10^-10 - 5.0 × 10^-7 mol L^-1. The detection limit of europium is 2.0 × 10^-13 mol L^-1 (S/N = 3). The system was used for the determination of trace amounts of europium in rare earth samples with satisfactory results.