Complexation study of europium(III) and curium(III) with urea in aqueous solution investigated by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy

The complex formation of europium(III) and curium(III) with urea in aqueous solution has been studied at I = 0.1 M (NaClO4), room temperature and trace metal concentrations in the pH-range of 1 to 8 at various ligand concentrations using time-resolved laser-fluorescence spectroscopy. While for curium(III) the luminescence maximum is red shifted upon complexation, in case of europium(III) emission wavelengths remain unaltered but a significant change in peak splitting occurs. Both heavy metals form weak inner sphere complexes of the formulae ML3+ with urea, which are stable till pH 6 but easily repressed by metal hydroxide formation. Stability constants were determined to be logß110 = -0.10 ± 0.07 for europium(III) and -0.80 ± 0.23 for curium(III).