Ultratrace determination of europium in high-purity lanthanum, praseodymium and dysprosium oxides by luminescence spectrometry

A luminescence spectrometric method was developed for the determination of ultra trace amounts of europium (down to 1 x 10(-13) M) in high purity lanthanum, praseodymium and dysprosium oxides. This is based on the enhanced luminescence of europium-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA)-dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DBC)-Triton X-100 in the presence of terbium. The fluorescence intensity is linear with europium concentration in the range 1 x 10(-11) - 1 x 10(-6) M under the recommended conditions. The optimized procedure is successfully utilized for the determination of ultratrace amounts of europium in lanthanium, praseodymium and dysprosium oxides.