Pulse injection analysis with chemiluminescence detection: determination of citric acid using tris-(2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium(II)

A chemiluminescence method for the determination of citric acid was developed. The method is based on the enhancement of citric acid on the chemiluminescence light emission of tris-(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II). In the presence of tris-(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II), upon the addition of Ce(IV), resulted in intense light emission. The emission intensity is greatly enhanced by the presence of citric acid. The linear range and detection limit of citric acid are 3.0×10 −8∼6.0×10 −6 mol l −1 and 3.0×10 −8 mol l −1, respectively. The precision of the proposed method is determined by analyzing 11 samples containing 1.0×10 −7 mol l −1 citric acid. The relative standard deviation is 3.0%. The enhanced mechanism of citric acid was studied. The method was evaluated by carrying out an interference study with common ions and compounds, by a recovery study and by analysis of human urine and orange juice. A satisfactory result was obtained.