Solvent Polymeric Ion-selective Electrodes Research Articles

Electrochemical Properties of Nitrate-Selective Electrodes: The Dependence of Resistance on the Solution Concentration.

The electrochemical properties of ion-exchanger-based solvent polymeric ion-selective electrodes (ISEs)—bulk and interfacial resistance, capacitance, and polarization under a galvanostatic current step—are studied, with a nitrate ISE based on tetradecylammonium nitrate (TDANO3) as a model system. The study is performed by chronopotentiometric and impedance measurements, and focuses on the dependence of the aforementioned properties on the concentration of NO3− anions in solution. The impacts from the bulk and the interfacial charge transfer to the overall membrane resistance are revealed. It is shown that the bulk resistance of the membranes decreases over an increase of NO3− concentration within the range of a Nernstian potentiometric response of the ISE. This fact, also reported earlier for K+- and Ca2+-selective ISEs, is not in line with current views of the mechanism of the ISE response, or of the role of ion exchange in particular. The origin of this effect is unclear. Estimates are made for the concentration of ionized species (NO3− and TDA+) and, respectively, for the TDANO3 association constant, as well as for the species diffusion coefficients in the membrane.

Continuous Flow Analytical Microsystems Based on Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic Technology. Integrated Potentiometric Detection Based on Solvent Polymeric Ion-Selective Electrodes

In this paper, the low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology, which has been commonly used for electronic applications, is presented as a useful alternative to construct continuous flow analytical microsystems. This technology enables not only the fabrication of complex three-dimensional structures rapidly and at a realistic cost but also the integration of the elements needed to carry out a whole analytical process, such as pretreatment steps, mixers, and detection systems. In this work, a simple and general procedure for the integration of ion-selective electrodes based on liquid ion exchanger is proposed and illustrated by using ammonium- and nitrate-selective membranes. Additionally, a screen-printed reference electrode was easily incorporated into the microfluidic LTCC structure allowing a complete on-chip integration of the potentiometric detection. Analytical features of the proposed systems are presented.

Lifetime of ion-selective electrodes based on charged ionophores

The lifetime of solvent polymeric ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) is limited by leaching of the membrane components into the sample solutions. In this article, leaching of charged ionophores is discussed. Because of the electroneutrality principle, the loss of the charged ionophore into the sample must be accompanied by parallel transport of an ion of the opposite charge sign into the sample or by ion exchange with a sample ion of the same charge sign. Because ionic sites of high lipophilicity are available, the loss of ionic sites is, in general, not a concern. Therefore, it is assumed here that the cotransported or ion-exchanging ions are primary or interfering ions forming complexes with the ionophore. A general theory that allows quantification of ionophore lipophilicities and a discussion of changes in the membrane composition and selectivity with time is presented. A high complex stability and high analyte concentrations diminish the rate of ionophore loss into the sample if a charged ionophore is coextracted from the membrane into the sample together with an analyte ion of opposite charge. On the other hand, if the charged ionophore has the same charge sign as the ion that it binds, a large binding constant and high analyte concentrations enhance ionophore leaching into the sample. The model is applied to interpret results for an electrically charged ionophore, for which selectivity changes as a function of the leaching time were observed and the lipophilicity was determined with potentiometric measurements. Using the lipophilicities of neutral ionophores, as described previously, and the lipophilicities of charged ionophores, as described here, a direct comparison of the expected leaching rates of charged and neutral ionophores has become possible.

Solvent polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes

The significant role of poly(vinyl chloride) as a support polymer in solvent polymeric ion-selective electrodes is briefly reviewed. This lays emphasis on the way PVC has contributed to the relatively high state of development of conventional ion-selective electrodes, microelectrodes, coated-wire electrodes and ion-sensitive field effect transistors based on liquid ion-exchanger and neutral carrier ionophore sensors. Also discussed are possibilities of using alternative polymer matrices for overcoming some of the shortfalls of the PVC electrodes.