Abstract: Anew type of picric acid optrode membrane is described based on fluorescence energy transfer from fluoranthene(FA, donor)to fluorescein octadecyl ester(FODE, acceptor).When FAand FODEare incorporated in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride)polymer membrane, the two fluorophore system is strongly quenched, with a 3-fold increase in the Stern-Volmer quenching constant as compared to the quenching of FAor FODEalone.This phenomenon is mainly due to that donor-acceptor pair fluorescence is quenched with a much big efficiency by picric acid.The new optrode membrane offers a more sensitive method for the determination of picric acid over the existing picric acid sensors.

Key words: Fluorescence energy transfer, Optrode, Pieric acid