Application of 8-amino-N-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)naphthyl amine as a neutral ionophore in the construction of a lanthanum ion-selective sensor

In this work, a novel La(III) membrane sensor based on 8-amino-N-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)naphthylamine (AIP) is presented. This electrode reveals good selectivity for La³⁺ over a wide variety of lanthanides metal ions. Theoretical calculations and conductance study of AIP to lanthanum and some other metal ions were carried out and confirmed selectivity toward La(III) ions. The electrode comprises 7% AIP, 30% PVC, 61% NPOE and 2% KTpClPB. The sensor displays a linear dynamic range between 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ and 1.0 × 10⁻¹ M, with a nice Nernstian slope of 20.3 ± 0.3 mV per decade and a detection limit of 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ M. The potentiometric response is independent of pH in the range of 4.0-9.0. The proposed sensor posses the advantage of short response time, and especially, very good selectivity towards a large number of cations, such as Sm(III), Ce(III, Pr(III), Yb(III) and Hg(II), low detection limit and wide linear dynamic range in comparison with former ones. The electrode can be used for at least seven weeks without any considerable divergence in the potentials. It was used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of La(III) ions with EDTA. The sensor was applied to the determination of La(III) ions concentration in binary mixtures. It was also applied for the determination of fluoride ions in mouth wash preparations.