Sensitivity Enhancement of the Fluorometric Determination of Aluminum by the Use of Surfactant

Abstract

The effects of surfactants on fluorescence analysis were studied. The addition of surfactants to a metal complex solution causes a remarkable enhancement of fluorescence. By means of such phenomenon the sensitivity of the fluorometric determination of aluminum was increased about six-fold over conventional methods. From the stability of the chelate complex in the presence of surfactant and the degree of enhancement of fluorescence, the nonionic surfactant was judged to be the most useful of the types of surfactants: cationic, anionic and nonionic. An ultramicro amount of aluminum, 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ g Al/ml, could be determined by the proposed method.