All‐Solid‐State Ion Selective and All‐Solid‐State Reference Electrodes

This paper is aiming to give a brief overview of recent research in the field of all‐solid‐state, internal solution free, ion‐selective electrodes and reference electrodes, employing conducting polymers or nano‐/microstructures as solid contacts beneath the polymeric, ion‐selective or reference membranes. The emphasis is on papers published in the last five years (after 2006). According to the papers published, poly(3‐octylthiophene) conducting polymer transducers offer highly reliable sensors for various applications, involving demanding analytical approaches and miniature sensors. On the other hand, the search for alternative materials continues: the sensors obtained by placing nano‐/microstructures (conducting polymers but also other materials, like, e.g., carbon nanotubes) underneath the receptor membrane are intensively tested. The recent years have also shown how useful the application of advanced instrumental methods is for the investigation of processes occurring within all‐solid‐state ion‐selective electrodes.     

导电聚合物构建的高性能固态离子选择电极

基于最新研究文献和自身研究工作,系统总结了以导电聚合物构建的各种高性能固态离子选择电极.导电聚合物所特有的共轭结构以及电子导电和离子导电的双重导电功能使其可以作为离子-电子转换器,从而实现对离子的传感响应与探测.由聚苯胺、聚吡咯和聚噻吩等导电聚合物为转换中间层而构建的离子选择电极可以实现纳摩尔浓度水平的离子传感探测,有望在环境监测、药物医疗和食品安全等诸多方面发挥重要作用.     

Investigation of Protein Binding With All Solid‐State Ion‐Selective Electrodes

A potentiometric sensor for studying charge based adsorption of proteins was created using a single‐piece polyaniline‐PVC ion‐selective electrode (ISE). Three different ISEs, two for Na⁺ and one for Cl^? ion determination, were studied. The Na⁺‐ISEs consisted of a neutral calixarene‐based ionophore and one with a charged carrier dinonylnapthalenesulfonic acid (DNNSA) whereas for the Cl^? ISE, an anion exchanger tridodecylmethylammonium chloride (TDDMA⁺Cl^?), was used. The Na⁺ ISE with DNNSA as the charged carrier was successfully able to discriminate the binding of two different proteins (bovine serum albumin and lysozyme) based on their intrinsic charge.     

Tailoring Solution Cast Poly(3,4‐dioctyloxythiophene) Transducers for Potentiometric All‐Solid‐State Ion‐Selective Electrodes

A novel concept of tailoring potentiometric responses of all‐solid‐state ion‐selective electrodes was introduced. The effect of composition and resulting properties of the conjugated polymer transducer, placed between the electrode support and ion‐selective membrane, on analytical characteristic of obtained sensors was studied.     

Micro Solid‐Contact Ion‐Selective Electrode Using a Carbon Nanotube Tower as Ion‐to‐Electron Transducer and Conductive Substrate

Solid contact (SC) ion‐selective electrodes (ISEs) have been recognized as the next generation of ISEs. In this work, the electrical conductivity and mechanical strength of a carbon nanotube (CNT) tower enable it to play the dual roles of transducer and substrate for micro SC‐ISEs. The electrode had a close to Nernstian slope of 35 mV/decade a_Ca2+, a linear range of four orders of magnitude of calcium ion activity (10^?5.6 to 10^?1.8 M), and a detection limit of 1.6×10^?6 M. The simplified fabrication by a one‐step drop casting makes miniaturizing SC‐ISEs and fabricating sensor arrays easier to achieve.     

Single‐Piece Solid‐Contact Pb2+‐Selective Electrodes Based on Thiophene Oligomer

A single‐piece solid‐contact Pb²⁺‐selective electrode was prepared by adding a thiophene oligomer into the ion‐selective cocktail directly. The one‐step fabrication yielded an electrode with Nernstian response spanning a wide concentration range of 10^?3–10^?8 mol L^?1, and detection limit as low as 5.6×10^?9 mol L^?1. The electrode had a quick response time of approximately 10–15 s and showed excellent selectivity over the most common univalent and divalent cations. The practical application of the proposed electrode has been tested by determining Pb²⁺ in real water samples.     

Novel Solid‐Contact Ion‐Selective Microelectrodes for Localized Potentiometric Measurements

The design and properties of novel type of solid‐contact ionophore‐based ion‐selective microelectrodes are reported. The microelectrode is based on an insulated needle‐shaped metallic wire with an exposed apex. The ion‐to‐electron transducer is made of poly(3‐octylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl) and placed between an ion‐selective membrane and the metallic tip. The ion‐selective polyvinyl chloride‐based membrane is deposited atop the layer of conductive polymer. The length of the ion‐sensitive part of the electrode is less than 10 μm. pH and Mg²⁺‐selective microelectrodes were constructed and tested showing stable potential and fast response that are essential properties for the practical application of microelectrodes for localized scanning measurements.     

Response Behavior of Poly(vinyl chloride)‐ and Polyurethane‐Based Ca2+‐Selective Membrane Electrodes with Polypyrrole‐ and Poly(3‐octylthiophene)‐Mediated Internal Solid Contact

The potentiometric response behavior of Ca²⁺‐selective poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) membranes with different inner contacts has been compared. Evidence for the formation of a water film between membrane and internal contact and, hence, a less than optimal lower detection limit have been found for membranes directly in contact with bare Au or with polypyrrole generated by electropolymerization in the presence of KCl. A significantly better behavior is shown by membranes with polypyrrole prepared in the presence of potassium hexacyanoferrate. Best performances have been obtained with solvent‐cast poly(3‐octylthiophene) as the internal contacting layer. As compared with the PVC membranes, those with PU had a significantly worse performance throughout.     

New Ion‐Pair Based All‐Solid‐State Surfactant Sensitive Sensor for Potentiometric Determination of Cationic Surfactants

Cationic surfactants of different types were determined using a few potentiometric sensors based on ion‐pair complexes (dodecyldimethylbenzylammonium dodecylsulfate, dodecylmethylbenzylammonium dodecylbenzensulfonate, tetrahexadecylammonium dodecylsulfate and Hyamine (benzethonium dodecylsulfate)) as sensing materials. The response of the all‐solid state surfactant sensitive electrode based on a Teflonized graphite conducting substrate, coated with a PVC membrane containing sensing material, was investigated in the solutions of Hyamine and hexadecyltrimethylammonium ion in the concentration range from 1 μM to 10 mM. Potentiometric surfactant cation titration has been performed using sodium dodecylsulfate as titrant and an ion‐pair‐based surfactant sensitive electrode as a potentiometric indicator. Several commercial surfactant products have also been titrated and the results were compared with those obtained with two‐phase standard titration method.     

Nonlinear Estimation of the Equilibrium Potential for a Solid‐State Lead Ion‐Selective Electrode

Nonlinear regression was applied to three empirical equations to model the response of a solid‐state lead ion‐selective electrode (ISE). One particular equation, previously reported to describe the response of a fluoride ISE, was found to also describe the response of a solid‐state lead ISE. Nonlinear regression was applied to the early portion of the response curve for the lead ISE and used to estimate the equilibrium potential for a range of test solutions.     

Solid Contact Nitrate Ion‐Selective Electrode Based on Ionic Liquid with Stable and Reproducible Potential

A simple, fast and cheap method of preparation of solid contact nitrate ion‐selective electrode is proposed. The electrode membrane phase consist of only three components: PVC, plasticizer and ionic liquid (IL).The ionic liquid trihexyltetradecylphosphonium chloride is used in triple function as ionophore, as lipophilic ionic component in order to reduce membrane resistance, and as transducer media in order to stabilize the potential of internal Ag/AgCl electrode. The electrical properties of the membrane were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the influence of the interfacial water film was evaluated by potentiometric water layer test.     

Stability and Lifetime of Potassium Solid‐Contact Ion Selective Electrodes for Continuous and Autonomous Measurements

The current generation of solid‐contact ion‐selective electrodes (SC‐ISE) suffer from lack of stability and lifetime. When using such sensors for remote, continuous, or autonomous measurements, these analytical characteristics are especially critical. In this work we compare several different configurations of ISEs to be deployed for monitoring in extreme environments, and present a novel configuration to improve performance. In particular we compare a polymeric hydrogel‐based ISE, used previously in the Wet Chemistry Lab on the Phoenix Mars Lander, with three variations of solid supported nanoporous carbon‐based ISEs. The symmetric membrane (SM) solid contact ISE (SM‐SC‐ISE) shows promise in overcoming many of the analytical problems encountered with hydrogel and solid‐state devices. The results indicate that sensors based on the SM configuration provide improvements in both stability, and most importantly reproducibility, over other existing SC‐ISEs. Future work will continue testing the SM configuration for use in a variety of extreme environments, including continuous monitoring and in‐situ analyses in extraterrestrial environments.     

Copper(II) Ion‐Selective Electrodes Based on Dithiosalicylic and Thiosalicylic Acids

Potentiometric carbon paste electrodes for copper(II) based on dithiosalicylic and thiosalicylic acids are described. The sensor based on dithiosalicylic acid (DTS) exhibits a linear response with a nearly Nernstian slope of 27.7 mV per decade, whereas the electrode based on thiosalicylic acid (TS) shows a super‐Nernstian slope. The limits of detection for the DTS sensor and the TS sensor are 10^?7.9and 10^?6.3 M for copper(II) activity, respectively. Selectivity coefficients are tabulated, and the influence of the pH on the response of these ISEs is studied. The DTS electrode is successfully used for potentiometric titration of humic acids with copper in order to get more information about complexing properties of these acids.     

All‐Solid‐State Chloride Sensors with Poly(3‐Octylthiopene) Matrix and Trihexadecylmethylammonium Chlorides as an Ion Exchanger Salt

All‐solid‐state chloride sensors were prepared by incorporation of trihexadecyl‐methylammonium chloride (THMACl) as an ion‐exchanger salt into a conjugated polymer membrane, poly(3‐octylthiophene) (POT). The influence of additional membrane components, such as a lipophilic anion, (potassium tetrakis[3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] borate), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) or a plasticizer, (2‐nitrophenyl octyl ether) were studied. The membrane components were dissolved in chloroform except for PVC, which was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The membrane solution was deposited on glassy carbon (GC) by solution casting resulting in all‐solid‐state chloride sensors. The sensor characteristics were determined potentiometrically and with impedance spectroscopy. The addition of plasticizer was found to be crucial in obtaining a well functioning Cl^?‐ISE based on POT and THMACl.     

聚合物在离子选择电极上的应用

本文概述了聚合物膜离子选择电极的发展、制备、应用等方面的研究情况。分别对固态膜类和液膜类聚合物膜离子选择电极的优缺点和发展前景进行了分析,并讨论了聚合物在膜电极中的作用,以及聚合物的结构对膜电极性能的影响。     

Ion‐selective Electrodes with 3D Nanostructured Conducting Polymer Solid Contact

Until now both ion‐to‐electron transducers as well as large surface area nanostructured conducting materials were successfully used as solid contacts for polymer‐based ion‐selective electrodes. We were interested to explore the combination of these two approaches by fabricating ordered electrically conducting polymer (ECP) nanostructures using 3D nanosphere lithography and electrosynthesis to provide a high surface area and capacitive interface for solid contact ion‐selective electrodes (SC‐ISEs). For these studies we used poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT(PSS)) films with 750 nm diameter interconnected pores as the intermediate layer between a glassy carbon electrode and a Ag⁺ ‐selective polymeric membrane. We also investigated the feasibility of loading the voids created in the polymer film with a lipophilic redox mediator (1,1’‐dimethylferrocene) to provide the respective ISEs with well‐defined/controllable E⁰ values. These expectations were fulfilled as the standard deviation of E⁰ values were reduced with almost an order of magnitude for 3D nanostructured SC‐ISEs filled with the redox mediator as compared to their redox mediator‐free analogs. The detrimental effect of the redox mediator extraction into the plasticized PVC‐based ion‐selective membrane (ISM) was efficiently suppressed by replacing the PVC‐based ISMs with a low diffusivity silicone rubber matrix.     

Bifunctional Ion‐Selective Electrode Based on C60‐Cryptand 22 for Silver and Iodine Ions

Fullerence C60‐cryptand 22 was prepared and successfully applied as the electric carrier in the PVC electrode membrane of a bifunctional ion‐selective electrode for cations, e.g., Ag⁺ ions as well as anions, e.g., I^? ions. The bifunctional ion‐selective electrode based on C60‐cryptand 22 can be applied as a Silver (Ag⁺) ion selective electrode with an internal electrode solution of 10^?3 M AgNO₃ in water (pH = 6.3), or as an Iodide (I^?) ion selective electrode with an acidic internal electrode solution of 10^?4 M KI_(aq) (pH = 2) in which the cryptand 22 is protonated, and the C60‐cryptand 22 is changed to C60‐Cryptand22–H⁺ and becomes an anionic electro‐carrier to absorb the I^? ion. The Ag⁺ ion selective electrode based on C60‐cryptand 22 gave a linear response with a near‐Nernstian slope (59.5 mV decade^?1) within the concentration range 10^?1‐10^?3 M Ag⁺_(aq). The Ag⁺ ion electrode exhibited comparatively good selectivity for silver ions, over other transition‐metal ions, alkali and alkaline earth metal ions. The Ag⁺ ion selective electrode with good stability and reproducibility was successfully used for the titration of Ag⁺_(aq) with Cl^? ions. The Iodide (I^?) Ion selective electrode based on protonated C60–cryptand22‐H⁺ also showed a linear response with a nearly Nernstian slope (58.5 mV decade^?1) within 10^?1 ‐ 10^?3 M I^? _(aq) and exhibited good selectivity for I^? ions and had small selectivity coefficients (10^?2–10^?3) for most of other anions, e.g., F^? , OH^?, CH₃COO^?, SO₄^2?, CO₃^2?, CrO₄^2?, Cr₂O₇^2? and PO₄^3? ions.     

Intercalation Compounds as Inner Reference Electrodes for Reproducible and Robust Solid‐Contact Ion‐Selective Electrodes

With billions of assays performed every year, ion‐selective electrodes (ISEs) provide a simple and fast technique for clinical analysis of blood electrolytes. The development of cheap, miniaturized solid‐contact (SC‐)ISEs for integrated systems, however, remains a difficult balancing act between size, robustness, and reproducibility, because the defined interface potentials between the ion‐selective membrane and the inner reference electrode (iRE) are often compromised. We demonstrate that target cation‐sensitive intercalation compounds, such as partially charged lithium iron phosphate (LFP), can be applied as iREs of the quasi‐first kind for ISEs. The symmetrical response of the interface potentials towards target cations ultimately results in ISEs with high robustness towards the inner filling (ca. 5 mV dec^?1 conc.) as well as robust and miniaturized SC‐ISEs. They have a predictable and stable potential derived from the LiFePO₄/FePO₄ redox couple (97.0±1.5 mV after 42 days).     

Study on Hydrogen Ion-Selective Solid Contact Electrodes Based on Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane

Hydrogen ion-selective solid contact electrode based on decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (DMCS) as ionophore was fabricated. The membrane solution was prepared by mixing DMCS, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), potassium tetrakis p-chlorophenyl borate (KTpClPB) and various plasticizers. The best performance was obtained with the sensor based on NPOE (o-nitrophenyl octyl ether) and the conducting polymer layer of poly(pyrrole), doped with NaClO₄. The electrode exhibited Nernstian-response in the range of pH 1.9–9.8 with a slope of 57.6 ± 0.2 mV per decade and fast response time within 15 s. This electrode showed good selectivity and was successfully used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration.     

Highly Selective All‐Plastic,Disposable, Cu2+‐Selective Electrodes

Conducting polymers (CP) remain a promising material to construct stable potential all‐solid‐state ion‐selective potentiometric electrodes. The unique properties of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(4‐styrenesulfonate) ions, PEDOT‐PSS: high CP stability and affinity of doping anions towards Cu²⁺ ions, make it highly attractive for construction of all‐solid‐state copper(II)‐selective electrodes with outstanding selectivity. The additional benefits can arise from solution processability of commercially available PEDOT‐PSS system. This material was highly promising for a new sensor arrangement, i.e. to obtain disposable, planar and flexible all‐plastic Cu²⁺‐selective electrodes. These sensors can be obtained by casting a commercially available dispersion of PEDOT‐PSS (Baytron P) on a plastic, non‐conducting support material. The CP being both electrical lead and ion‐to‐electron transducer, was covered with plastic, solvent polymeric Cu²⁺ selective membrane. This extremely simple arrangement, after conditioning in dilute Cu²⁺ solution, was characterized with linear Nernstian responses within the activities range from: 0.1 to 10^?4 M, followed by super‐Nernstian responses for lower activities. The latter result points to effective elimination of primary ions leakage from the plastic membrane / transducer phase and has resulted in significantly improved selectivities. Obtained log K values were equal to ?7.6 for Co²⁺, ?7.4 for Zn²⁺, ?7.2 for Ca²⁺ and ?6.8 for Na⁺, respectively.