Kinetic Fluorimetric Determination of Trace Formaldehyde Based on Oxidation of Phenosafranine by Potassium Bromate

A new kinetic fluorimetric method for the determination of trace formaldehyde has been proposed,based on its obvious catalytic effect on the fluorescence quenching reaction of phenosafranine by oxidative effect of potassium bromate in sulfuric acid medium.Under the optimum conditions,the linear range of this method is 8.0-400μg/L,and the detection limit is 3.1μg/L.The method possesses several advantages including fast,simple and good selectivity,which has been applied to determination of trace formaldehyde in environmental water samples.The recoveries were 97.5%-103%,and the relative standard deviation were 2.9%-3.4%.