A novel luminescence method for the estimation of uranyl ions using trimesic acid‑cadmium complex

Cadmium ion (Cd2+) with trimesic acid forms water insoluble complex. When uranyl ion (UO22+) is present with Cd2+, the complex shows intense luminescence of UO22+ and it is used for the trace level determination of UO22+ ions. A linear response of luminescence intensity of UO22+ ions was obtained over a concentration range of 1-75 ng mL−1. Analytical data showed that the detection limit of 0.2 ng mL−1 (7.4 × 10−10 M) of UO22+ ion is achieved with a relative standard deviation (RSD) 8.5% (n = 5). The proposed method was successfully applied for quantification of UO22+ ions in natural water and waste water from nuclear fuel processing plant. Furthermore, the estimation of UO22+ ions in cadmium matrix also has been carried out. This study provides a very simple, promising and a novel alternative method for the detection of UO22+ ions in environment.