Fluorescence studies of ternary complexes of Europium and Terbium and their application to analytical determinations

Europium and Terbium were found to form ternary complexes with ethylenediammine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ortho-phenanthroline (o-phen) in aqueous solution in the pH range of 6-8. These ternary complexes were found to have 1:1:1 composition and showed strong fluorescence properties. The method is made use of for the determination of these lanthanide ions in presence of excess amounts of other lanthanide ions. The lowest detection limit was calculated as 30 and 65 ng/ml of Tb(3+) and Eu(3+), respectively.