Simultaneous determination of samarium, europium and terbium with quinaldic acid and phenanthroline by synchronous derivative fluorimetry

Synchronous derivative fluorescence of samarium, europium and terbium complexes with quinaldic acid and phenanthroline was examined in aqueous solution. The composition of these complexes was determined. The maximum emission wavelengths are 645 nm, 617 nm and 545 nm for samarium, europium and terbium, respectively. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the fluorescence intensity was a linear function of concentration in the range of 10-250 ppm for samarium, 0.5-50 ppm for europium and 0.5-300 ppm for terbium. Simultaneous determination of samarium, europium and terbium was successfully carried out for samarium oxide and middle rare earth mixture. The precision of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation, is within 1.1-2.5%.