Experimental design applied to a room-temperature phosphorimetric method for the determination of acenaphthene in a microemulsion

The room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) of acenaphthene as a model polyaromatic hydrocarbon with stabilization using a microemulsion of an apolar solvent has been examined. A multivariate optimization approach using the type of central composite blocked cube-star design was carried out. These variables selection constitute the basis of a RTP method for the determination of acenaphthene (detection limit 4.6 ng ml−1; 2% relative standard deviation at 75 ng ml−1. The method has been applied to the determination of acenaphthene in sea water samples.