STUDY OF NAPHTHALENE AND PHENANTHRENE BY MICROEMULSION ROOM-TEMPERATURE PHOSPHORIMETRY

The effect of pH on the deoxygenation rate and phosphorescence intensity in microemulsion systems was studied. It was found that more intense room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) can be obtained and the deoxygenation time can be decreased from more that 30 min to less than 100 s if the pH is maintained in the range 7-7.5. In addition, with increase in sodium sulphite concentration the deoxygenation rate increased. Other conditions such as the concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulphate and thallium(I) nitrate were investigated in detail. For the results, the microemulsion RTP of naphthalene and phenanthrene was improved. Limits of detection of 1.3 x 10(-7) mol 1(-1) for naphthalene and 7.0 x 10(-8) mol 1(-1) for phenanthrene were achieved.