Influence of Poly(3‐octylthiophene) on the Water Transport Through Methacrylic‐Acrylic Based Polymer Membranes |
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| Authors: | Fredrik Sundfors Lajos Höfler Róbert E Gyurcsányi Tom Lindfors |
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| Institution: | 1. ?bo Akademi University, Process Chemistry Centre, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Biskopsgatan 8, FI‐20500 ?bo/Turku, Finland;2. Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Szt. Gellért tér 4, H‐1111, Budapest, Hungary;3. Research Group of Technical Analytical Chemistry, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Szt. Gellért tér 4, H‐1111 Budapest, Hungary;4. Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland |
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| Abstract: | Accumulation of water in ion‐selective membranes, can lead to inconsistent potentiometric responses with solid‐contact ion‐selective electrode (SC‐ISE) formats, and hence it is essential to restrain their water uptake. We have used FTIR‐ATR spectroscopy to study how the water uptake is influenced by the intermixing of a poly(3‐octylthiophene) (POT) SC and a poly(methyl methacrylate):poly(n‐decyl methacrylate) (PMMA:PDMA) based polymeric membrane matrix, the only SC‐ISE system for which direct evidence was provided on the aqueous layer elimination. Numerical simulations of the FTIR‐ATR spectra of 1 or 5 wt% POT containing PMMA:PDMA membranes showed that the addition of 5 wt% POT to the membrane lowered the equilibrium water uptake, whereas the diffusion coefficients of water in the membrane were found to be less affected. Consequently, POT is beneficial for preventing the formation of detrimental water layers in the SC‐ISE structure. |
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| Keywords: | FTIR‐ATR spectroscopy Conducting polymer Ion‐selective membranes Acrylate polymer Water transport |
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