Flow-injection determination of europium after on-line reduction

A zinc reductor minicolumn is used in a flow-injection system for reduction of europium(III) to europium(II). Europium(II) is indirectly determined either spectrophotometrically by oxidation with iron(III) and reaction of the iron(II) formed with 1,10- phenanthroline, or spectrofluorimetrically by reaction with cerium(IV) and measurement of the cerium(III) produced. The reductor functions efficiently at flow rates up to 1 ml min^?1, which allows sample injection rates up to 100 h^?1. Linear calibration is achieved for 10–200 and 0.5–4 μg ml^?1 with detection limits of 2.5 and 0.25 μg ml^?1, by spectrophotometry and spectrofluorimetry, respectively.