Laser-Induced Solid Surface Room-Temperature Phosphorimetry ofPolycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

by A. D. Campiglia, D. M. Hueber, and *Tuan Vo-Dinh, Health Sciences Research Division, Advances Monitoring Development Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

Appl. Spec. v50 (2)

Laser-Induced Solid Surface Room-Temperature Phosphorimetry (SSRTP) hasbeen employed for the detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Anitrogen-pumped laser and a dye laser were used as excitation sources.The effects of sample volume, laser irradiation, and backgroundreduction treatment on the precision and sensitivity of the method werestudied. With the use of thallium (I) acetate as a phosphorescenceenhances, picogram limits of detection were estimated for phenanthrene,pyrene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene, chrysene, coronene, and 1,2 benzofluorene.The study demonstrates that laser excitation can improve the sensitivityof SSRTP by up to three orders of magnitude.