Equations for calculation of the pH of buffer solutions containing sodium or potassium dihydrogen phosphate, sodium hydrogen phosphate, and sodium chloride at 25°C

Abstract

Published thermodynamic data measured in aqueous mixtures of sodium or potassium dihydrogen phosphate with hydrogen phosphate and chloride at 25°C were used to test recently developed methods for calculation of the pH of phosphate buffer solutions. Equations for ionic activity coefficients are used in these methods. It is shown that all data used in the tests up to an ionic strength of about 0.5 mol-kg-1 can be accurately predicted by the two methods recommended. In one of these methods, equations of the Huckel type are used for ionic activity coefficients and in the other equations of the Pitzer type. Several sets of phosphate buffer solutions are recommended,e.g., for calibrations of glass electrode cells. In the recommended sets, the pH of the buffer solutions can be calculated either by the Huckel or Pitzer method, and the pH predictions of these methods agree in most cases within 0.005 at least up to ionic strengths of about 0.2 mol-kg-1. The pH values of the two primary pH standards endorsed by IUPAC based on aqueous mixtures of KH2PO4 and Na2HPO4,i.e., pH values of 6.865 and 7.413, can also be accurately predicted by the equations recommended in this study.