Phosphorimetry

Abstract

Phosphorimetry in the past has received limited use because the precision of reproducibility was inadequate, there were solvent limitations, and preparation of test specimens was difficult and time consuming. Detection limits have now been lowered by more than two orders of magnitude by using a rotating capillary sample cell, a more stable excitation-source power supply, and aqueous solvents. These steps have also increased precision by more than an order of magnitude. Considerable reduction in time and effort of sampling and measurement has been effected compared to phosphorimetric measurements made with standard procedures and commercial equipment. Twenty microliters of aqueous solution is all that is required to fill a quartz capillary cell by capillary action. Capillary cells filled with aqueous solutions do not crack when cooled to 77 K or when returned to room temperature. Rotation of the sample cell minimizes effects due to cell orientation and thus improves precision. Reduction of background phosphorescence results in improved accuracy of analysis. A study was made of the influence of methanol-water mixtures and of sodium-halide aqueous solutions on the magnitude of phosphorescence signals from several substances and of the effect on signal-to-noise ratios. The optimum solvent system for many phosphorimetric measurements is discussed. Analytical results are given for several organic substances measured by phosphorimetry at 77 K. These results are compared with those from previous studies by older methods.