Ozone-inducted ratiometric cataluminescence for aromatic compounds discrimination based on Eu,Tb co-doped MgO

The detection and discrimination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) are tricky and chal-lenging issues no matter in environmental monitoring or process controlling in industrial fields. Herein, an ozone-inducted ratiometric cataluminescence strategy for fast quantifying and recognizing BTEX was developed. With ozone as oxidant and rare earth ions Eu3+, Tb3+ co-doped MgO nanocatalyst as sensing material, BTEX were found to produce strong cataluminescence (CTL) emission. And each analyte has unique ratio of the intensities under the characterization wavelength of Eu3+ and Tb3+ in a wide range of concentrations, which can be assumed as the qualitative parameter for BTEX recognition. On that basis, BTEX were supposed to be identified successfully with discrepant ratios for IEu/ITb of 0.73 +/- 0.03, 1.34 +/- 0.03, 4.47 +/- 0.18, 2.39 +/- 0.11, and measured simultaneously with detection limit of 0.13, 0.21, 0.092, 0.053 mu g ml-1, respectively. Besides, the prepared catalysts were characterized and the possible CTL sensing recognition mechanism for BTEX were discussed in detail. The proposed methodology provides a new insight for monitoring and identifying low active compounds.