[saibot]

Hello all!

I'm doing a project and I had a question I was hoping someone could help me with.

We are staining different surfaces with blood, washing them clean, and then testing for remnants of blood using Luminol.

Now, I bought Luminol, and I have instructions for making the solution.

They are:

Add 4 grams of NaOH to 100mL of water

Then, add 0.1g if Luminol to that solution and mix.

Then, add 10mL of hydrogen peroxide.

Now I know the iron in blood acts as a catalyst to speed up the reaction between the luminol and peroxide, but I also know that the substances will react on their own, without the iron, resulting in a short shelf life for the luminol.

Now my question is:  Can I just leave the hydrogen peroxide out of the solution, and put that in a separate bottle?

Clarification:  Can I just have the lumnol, NaOH solution in its own bottle, and the H2O2 in it's own bottle?  Then when I'm ready to test the surface, spray the H2O2 first, then the Luminol solution?

I hope I'm making sense here...

Thanks alot!

[Bakegaku]

well you buy them all in seperate containers, don't you?  Aren't those instructions for when you're ready to do an experiment or test?  Surely you'd keep the solutions separate until then.  I'll say yes, it should be fine.  

[jwesterway]

the best way to store luminol on the shelf if for a prolonged period is to leave the luminol out of solution, as the powder, in a sealed container sheilded from light and heat. Lasts for a long time this way.

-Josh

[saibot]

Thanks all!