Flow injection-chemiluminescence determination of phenol using potassium permanganate and formaldehyde system

It is found that phenol can react with potassium permanganate in the acidic medium and produce chemiluminescence, which is greatly enhanced by formaldehyde. The optimum conditions for this chemiluminescent reaction are in detail studied using a flow injection system. The experiments indicate that under optimum conditions, the chemiluminescence intensity is linearly related to the concentration of phenol in the range 5.0 × 10−9 to 1.0 × 10−6 g mL−1 with a detection limit (3σ) of 3 × 10−9 g mL−1. The relative standard deviation is 1.2% for 4.0 × 10−7 g mL−1 phenol solution in 11 repeated measurements. This method has the advantages of simple operation, fast response and high sensitivity. The method is successfully applied to the determination of phenol in the waste water.