Abstract
A spectrofluorimetric procedure for the determination of micromolar concentrations of antimony(III) was devised based on its reduction of cerium(IV) to produce fluorescent cerium(III). The method was optimized and the reaction was fast enough in hydrochloric acid media without the need for iodide or osmium(VIII) as catalysts. Linear calibration graphs were obtained in the range 1-10 10
−6
M. The standard deviation for determining 5 × 10
−6
M antimony(III)(10 times) was 1.43 × 10
−7
M and the relative error was -3.4 %. The method was applied to the determination of antimony(III) in its mixture with antimony(V), total antimony was later determined after reduction with mercury metal in deoxygenated solutions. The affect several reducing agents on the determination of antimony-was also examined.