Kinetic Determination of Lanthanum(III) by the Catalytic Effect on the Oxidation of Fluorescent Safranine Dyes with Potassium Bromate

Two simple and sensitive kinetic-fluorometric methods have been developed for the determination of lanthanum(III): fluorescence quenching generated by the oxidation of safranine T or phenosafranine with potassium bromate in an acetate buffer solution. The rate of the oxidation reaction is significantly accelerated after adding lanthanum(III). A good linearity between the relative fluorescence intensity and lanthanum(III) is observed in the range of both 0.04–2.0 and 4.0–16 μg/mL. The detection limits have been 3.6 × 10−3 and 0.334 μg/mL respectively. The accuracy and reliability of the methods are further validated by recovery studies via a standard-addition method, with percentage recoveries ranging from 98 to 102%. Comparing the results of two measured reaction systems, we find that the safranine T reaction system provides high sensitivity and a wider linear range. In consequence, we have chosen the safranine T system to detect sample water, and explored the reaction mechanism.