Ian A. Brettell-Adams, Alexandra V. Andreen, S. Bhattacharyya
Apr 1, 2018
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0
Influential Citations
4
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Journal
Sensors and Actuators B-chemical
Abstract
Abstract Tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) is a common fluoride source used for the development of fluoride sensors. Commercial TBAF samples were found to absorb light at 295 and 370 nm and fluoresce at 435 nm, which is not expected for pure TBAF. The source of the anomalous absorption and emission was determined to be I3−. The I3− forms from the oxidation of I−, which was detected as an impurity in all commercially purchased TBAF samples (6 tested total). The concentrations of iodine in commercial samples of TBAF were found to range from 0.0186% to 0.866% w/w, 1 as measured by ICP-MS. 2 The presence of iodine in TBAF can impact sensing results when TBAF is used as a fluoride source for sensing experiments.