Flow-through fluorimetric sensor for the determination of aluminium at the nanogram per milliliter level

Abstract A sensor based on the transient retention of the aluminium/salicylaldehyde picolonoylhydrazone complex on a C18 support located in the flow-cell of a conventional fluorimeter is reported. The detector is coupled to a flow injection (FI) manifold which allows optimal formation of the luminescent complex and its fast elution after monitoring. The method developed by using this sensor features a linear range between 2 and 200 ng/mL of Al, with good repeatability and excellent selectivity. A conventional FI method based on the same reaction has also been developed. The comparison of both methods between them and also with the batch-manual method by applying them to the determination of aluminium in different types of water shows the usefulness of the proposed flow-through sensor.