Luminescence determination of europium in high-purity yttrium and gadolinium oxides

A luminescence spectrometric method was developed for the determination of ultratrace amounts of europium (down to 1 x 10-10 M) in high-purity yttrium and gadolinium oxides. This is based on the enhanced luminescence of europium thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA)-Tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO)- Triton X-100 in the presence of terbium. The luminescence intensity is linear with europium concentration in the range 1 x 10-9 to 1 x 10-6 M under the recommended conditions in the optimized procedure is successfully utilized for the determination of ultratrace amounts of europium in yttrium and gadolinum oxides.