Room temperature phosphorimetric determination of cyanide based on triplet state energy transfer Original Research Article

The determination of cyanide ions in water samples by room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) detection is described. The method is based on the measurement of the RTP emission of α-bromonaphthalene (BrN). The principle of the RTP cyanide determination involves the energy transfer (ET) from the BrN phosphor molecule insensitive to the presence of cyanide (acting as a donor) to a cyanide-sensitive dye (acceptor). The RTP emission spectrum of BrN overlaps significantly with the absorption spectrum of the complex formed between copper and Cadion 2B, giving rise to a non-radiative ET from the phosphor molecules to the metal complex. The sensing of cyanide ions is based on the displacement by cyanide of the copper ions from its complex with Cadion 2B (the free chelating molecule presents a low absorbance in the region of maximum emission of the BrN phosphor). An increase in the concentration of cyanide causes a decrease on the concentration of the Cadion 2B–copper complex (acceptor) with the subsequent decrease of the absorbance in the overlapping region with the RTP spectra, resulting in higher RTP emission signals measured. Both, RTP intensities and triplet lifetimes of the BrN increased with the increase of the cyanide concentration. The calibration graphs were linear up to a concentration of 500 mg l−1 cyanide and a precision of ±2 and ±0.5% for five replicates of 50 μg l−1 of cyanide has been obtained when measuring intensities and triplet lifetimes values, respectively. A detection limit of 3 μg l−1 of cyanide was achieved under optimal reaction conditions and pH 11. The use of phosphorescence measurements (low background noise signals) resulted in an important improvement on the sensitivity of the cyanide detection higher than eight times as compared to the molecular absorption spectrophotometric method for cyanide detection based on the use of Cadion 2B–copper as cyanide-indicator. Interference studies were performed with cations and anions present in drinking water samples which could affect the analytical response. Finally, the method has been successfully applied to the determination of trace levels of labile cyanide in spiked drinking water samples.