Development of a nitrate ion-selective electrode based on an Urushi matrix membrane and its application to the direct measurement of nitrate-nitrogen in upland soils

Abstract

A solid-state nitrate ion-selective electrode based on an Urushi matrix membrane was developed. Urushi, a natural oriental lacquer, has excellent mechanical strength and binding affinity for metal electrodes. Using the same technique for a dip-coating ion-selective electrode, an electrode was prepared by coating and hardening a sensing membrane on the metal base. The effects of the metal electrode on the electrode potential stability, the liquid-membrane components and the oven temperature for hardening of membrane were studied. The sensing membrane, consisting of 27.5 wt.% of o-nitrophenyl octyl ether. 27.5 wt.% of tri- n-octylmethylammonium nitrate and 45 wt.% of raw Urushi latex, was coated with a thickness of 0.5 mm on a silver disc which was plated with Ag/AgCl, then plated with copper and hardened in the oven at 80 °C for 50 h. A semi-logarithmic calibration curve of potential versus nitrate ion concentration was obtained over the range 6–60 000 mg l −1 NO 3 poststaggered−. The slope of the linear part of the curve was −56 mV per decade change in NO 3 poststaggered− concentration. Compared with a PVC matrix nitrate ion-selective electrode, the Urushi matrix nitrate ion-selective electrode was superior in terms of hardness and mechanical strength of the membrane, short response time and long life. The combination of an Urushi matrix nitrate ion-selective electrode with a porous PTFE junction reference electrode, air-tight structured KCl solution chamber and a temperature sensor was applied to field measurements of nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in upland soils. The values obtained for upland soils containing 30–50% of water were good agreement with those for soil solution.