Applications of Fluorescence and Phosphorescence:

Fluorescence spectroscopy and its applications to the physical and life sciences have evolved rapidly in during the past decade.  It is hugely used in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of inorganic compounds and has become widely used spectroscopic technique within the fields of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics also. Despite the fact in which the fluorescence measurements do not gives detailed structural information, the method has become quite popular within these areas. This is because of its sensitivity to changes in the structural and dynamic properties of biomolecules and biomolecular complexes. The increased interest in fluorescence appears to be because of advances in time resolution, methods of data analysis, and improved instrumentation. Advances within laser and detector technology have also resulted in renewed interest in fluorescence for analytical and clinical chemistry.

In that case of inorganic analytes, by several of these is fluorescent or phosphorescent in the solid state, the priority of analysis work is undertaken in solution. For the reason of fluorimetric analysis of inorganic analytes either direct or indirect methods are used. You know that in the direct method, the native fluorescence of the analyte is used, while in case of the indirect method, the analyte is converted to a fluorophore through making a complex along with an appropriate organic compound. For instance, the fluorescent uranylion could be directly determined while in the determination of selenium, the complexing agent diaminonaphthalene is used. In common, making a complex of the metal ion along with a molecule containing fused ring systems causes the development of fluorescence through making the complex rigid. Table provides some common applications of fluorescence measurements.