Determination of arsenate in water by anion selective membrane electrode using polyurethane–silica gel fibrous anion exchanger composite

Abstract

Polyurethane (PU)–silica (Si gel) based fibrous anion exchanger composites were prepared by solid–gel polymerization of polyurethane in the presence of different amounts of silica gel. The formation of PU–Si gel fibrous anion exchanger composite was characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis. The membrane having a composition of 5:3 (PU:Si gel) shows best results for water content, porosity, thickness and swelling. Our studies show that the present ion selective membrane electrode is selective for arsenic, having detection limit (1×10−8M to 1×10−1M), response time (45s) and working pH range (5–8). The selectivity coefficient values for interfering ions indicate good selectivity for arsenate (AsO43−) over interfering anions. The accuracy of the detection limit results was compared by PCA-Arsenomat.