Estimation of Eu3+ in bulk uranium by ligand sensitized fluorescence in dimethyl sulphoxide

•Fluorescence of europium ion complexed with thenoyltrifluoroacetone is studied in dimethyl sulphoxide medium.•The quenching of europium ion fluorescence by uranium was studied in different medium and found to be less in DMSO.•Estimation of europium ion concentration of 0.6 μg/g in uranium is demonstrated in DMSO.

Ligand sensitized fluorescence of europium ion using thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) as a sensitizing ligand and dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) as a solvent is studied for the first time. TTA ligand enhances the fluorescence of Eu3+ by a factor of 40000 in DMSO. Linearity is obtained for a concentration range of 0.076–7.6 ng/mL of Eu3+ with a detection limit of 7.6 pg/mL. The quenching of Eu3+-TTA fluorescence by uranium matrix was studied in different solvents and found to be less in DMSO. Consequently, estimation of Eu3+ in a large excess of uranium becomes a possibility without the need to separate uranium from the solution, which has been demonstrated in this paper. Satisfactory results are obtained when Eu3+ is present at a concentration of 0.6 μg/g in uranium.

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