Some common applications of fluorescence:

Table:  Some common applications of fluorescence

The phosphorescence emission has been observed in a huge variety of compounds and as you know it differs from fluorescence within terms of persistence of emission of light even after removal of the excitation source. The first analytical applications of phosphorescence were published as far back as 1957 through Kiers et al; yet the methods have not obtained the status of a routine analytical tool. This is so because we need to work at extremely low temperatures of 77 K, acquired by using liquid nitrogen. Therefore, some recent developments leading to room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) measurements have provident hope for newer practical applications and fundamental advances that might lead to the development of phosphorimetry. Presently, phosphorimetry is hugely accepted in a few areas like pharmaceutical analysis and forensic science. The number of the drugs belonging to sulphonamides, cocaine, phenobarbital, procaine, chlorpromazine and salicylic acid, etc. has been found to exhibit phosphorescence.  Phosphorescence has also been used in the determination of the drugs present in blood and urine samples. The detection of air and water borne pollutants and analysis of pesticides are other areas of application of phosphorescence.

In terms of the sensitivity, phosphorescence is comparable to in which of fluorescence. Phosphorescence as methods complements fluorescence through extending the applications of photoluminescence to a huger range of molecules.  In addition, uniqueness of phosphorescence lies within the time aspect as this could be used to eliminate the background interference from fluorescence.  The ratios of the fluorescence to phosphorescence intensities could be used for the identification of organic compounds and the decay time measurements can be exploited for checking the purity of organic compounds.