TRACE ANALYSIS OF LANTHANIDES BY LASER EXCITATION OF PRECIPITATES

Selective excitation of probe ion luminescence (SEPIL) has been applied to the trace determination of nine lanthanides without prior chemical separation. The lanthanides are quantitatively coprecipitated in calcium fluoride and their 4f electron solid-state luminescence is excited by a tunable dye laser. The selectivity, detection limits, concentration dependence, extent of coprecipitation, sample preparation parameters, and the temperature dependence of the emission intensity of the method have been investigated. The interference effects of 36 anions and cations are presented. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.