Comparative studies of praseodymium(III) selective sensors based on newly synthesized Schiff's bases

Praseodymium ion selective polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane sensors, based on two new Schiff's bases 1,3-diphenylpropane-1,3-diylidenebis(azan-1-ylidene)diphenol (M₁) and N,N′-bis(pyridoxylideneiminato) ethylene (M₂) have been developed and studied. The sensor having membrane composition of PVC: o-NPOE: ionophore (M₁): NaTPB (w/w; mg) of 150: 300: 8: 5 showed best performances in comparison to M₂ based membranes. The sensor based on (M₁) exhibits the working concentration range 1.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻² M with a detection limit of 5.0 × 10⁻⁹ M and a Nernstian slope 20.0 ± 0.3 mV decade⁻¹ of activity. It exhibited a quick response time as <8 s and its potential responses were pH independent across the range of 3.5-8.5.The influence of the membrane composition and possible interfering ions have also been investigated on the response properties of the electrode. The sensor has been found to work satisfactorily in partially non-aqueous media up to 15% (v/v) content of methanol, ethanol or acetonitrile and could be used for a period of 3 months. The selectivity coefficients determined by using fixed interference method (FIM) indicate high selectivity for praseodymium(III) ions over wide variety of other cations. To asses its analytical applicability the prepared sensor was successfully applied for determination of praseodymium(III) in spiked water samples.