Characterisation of a gas-diffusion membrane-based optical flow-through sensor exemplified by the determination of nitrite

A membrane-based optical flow-through sensor is described which can be alternatively used for absorbance and reflectance detection within the receiver channel of a sandwich-type gas-diffusion separation cell. Using the common spectrophotometric detection scheme for nitrite based on azo-dye formation, the principle features of the flow-through sensor are investigated and the performance is characterised particularly with regard to selectivity and sensitivity aspects. The determination of nitrite in waste waters and meat extracts was used to demonstrate the applicability to real sample analysis. The main advantage of the proposed flow-through sensor is the absence of interferences due to sample colour and turbidity enabling direct sample admission of complex samples without tedious sample pretreatment.