Silver nanoparticle-enhanced chemiluminescence method for determining naproxen based on europium(III)-sensitized...

A simple and sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method coupled with flow-injection technique is proposed to determine naproxen (NAP). The method is based upon the enhancement of the weak CL signal arising from the reaction of Ce(IV) and Na(2)S(2)O(4) with Eu(3+) to form the Eu(3+)-Ce(IV)-Na(2)S(2)O(4) system. The CL intensity was significantly increased by the introduction of NAP into this system in the presence of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Examination of the recorded UV-vis spectra and fluorescence spectra indicated that the energy of the intermediate SO(2)*, which originated from the redox reaction of Ce(IV) and Na(2)S(2)O(4), was transferred to Eu(3+) via NAP and that the process was accelerated by Ag NPs due to their catalytic activity. Under the optimum conditions, the CL intensity was increased with increasing NAP concentration and the correlation was linear (r = 0.9992) over the NAP concentration range of 1-420 ng mL(-1). The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.11 ng mL(-1) with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.15% for 5 replicate determinations of 200 ng mL(-1) NAP. The method was successfully applied to determine NAP in pharmaceutical and biological samples.