Curcumin based optical sensing of fluoride in organo-aqueous media using irradiation technique

The present work describes the degradation of natural dye Curcumin in organic-aqueous media upon irradiation by a multi-wavelength source of light like mercury lamp. The presence of anions in the solution leads to degradation of Curcumin and this degradation is especially enhanced in the case of fluoride ion. The degradation of Curcumin is investigated by studying the change in its absorption and fluorescence characteristics in organoaqueous solution upon irradiation. A broad detection range of fluoride ranging from 2.3×10−6−2.22×10−3 M points to the potential of the method of visible light irradiation enabling aqueous based sensing of fluoride using Curcumin.