Room temperature phosphorescence optosensor for terbium

A solid surface room temperature phosphorescence optosensing method has been developed for the determination of terbium(III) based on the adsorption of its binary complex with 1,4-bis (1'-phenyl-3'-methyl-5'-pyrazolone-4'-) butanedione-(1,4) (BPMPBD) onto the hydrogen form of a strong cation exchange resin packed in a flow cell in an aqueous now system. The phosphorescence intensity is a linear function of the concentration of terbium in the range of 8x10(-9) M-6x10(-7) M, and the detection limit is 3x10(-9) M terbium. The response mechanism was also studied. The present optosensor has been used for the determination of trace amounts of terbium in synthetic samples with satisfactory results. Copyright (C) 1996 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.