Luminescent probe to investigate material absolute absorption

Abstract A new method is suggested for the quantitative investigation of absorption spectra by using a luminescent probe. It is particularly useful, when the absorption bands are difficult to be measured directly due to practical reasons. The probe should possess excitation or emission band overlapping an absorption band of the material under investigation. Equations relating the absorption of the investigated material with the luminescence of the selected probe are obtained for several cases. Experimental results on Er(NO3)3 by using 3-amino-N-methylphtalimide as luminescent probe confirmed the effectiveness of the method.