The 4‐(Dimethylamino) benzaldehyde‐4‐ethylthiosemicarbazone as Ionophore for Mercury(II) Solid State Selective Electrode

Hg(II) has formed a soluble complex with 4‐(dimethylamino) benzaldehyde‐4‐ethylthiosemicarbazone (DMABET) in methanol with a molar ratio of mercury(II):DMABET of 1 : 4. The formation constant (K_f) and Gibbs free energy (?G) of the complex showed that the formation of the complex was favorable. The DMABET was investigated as ionophore for Hg(II)‐ion selective electrode (ISE). At optimum pH 1–5 the proposed Hg(II)‐ISE showed an almost Nernstian slope at 27.8±1 mV, with linear regression coefficient, R²=0.995 and a detection limit of 5×10^?6 M. There was no serious interference from silver(I) with selectivity coefficient 5.69×10^?3. The electrode life span was more than 3 months. It has been applied for real water sample analysis and the results were in good agreement with the standard method.