Fluorescence lifetime and intensity of terbium-doped dipicolinic acid in water, HCl, and sodium acetate buffer solutions.

The lifetimes of the individual fluorescing lines from the terbium-doped dipicolinic acid (DPA) complex have been measured and reported, for the first time to our knowledge. These lifetimes have been measured as a function of terbium and dipicolinic acid concentration, solvent pH, and solvent composition for water, HCl, and sodium acetate buffer solutions. Fluorescence lifetimes over the range from 0.75 to 1.07 ms were measured. The maximum fluorescence was obtained for distilled water solutions.