DDB liver drug as a novel ionophore for potentiometric barium (II) membrane sensor

Metal Cation Detection in Drinking Water

Maintaining a clean water supply is of utmost importance for human civilization. Human activities are putting an increasing strain on Earth’s freshwater reserves and on the quality of available water on Earth. To ensure cleanliness and potability of water, sensors are required to monitor various water quality parameters in surface, ground, drinking, process, and waste water. One set of parameters with high importance is the presence of cations. Some cations can play a beneficial role in human biology, and others have detrimental effects. In this review, various lab-based and field-based methods of cation detection are discussed, and the uses of these methods for the monitoring of water are investigated for their selectivity and sensitivity. The cations chosen were barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, hardness (calcium, magnesium), lead, mercury, nickel, silver, uranium, and zinc. The methods investigated range from optical (absorbance/fluorescence) to electrical (potentiometry, voltammetry, chemiresistivity), mechanical (quartz crystal microbalance), and spectrometric (mass spectrometry). Emphasis is placed on recent developments in mobile sensing technologies, including for integration into microfluidics.

Selective Thallium (I) Ion Sensor Based on Functionalised ZnO Nanorods

Well controlled in length and highly aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on the gold-coated glass substrate by hydrothermal growth method. ZnO nanorods were functionalised with selective thallium (I) ion ionophore dibenzyldiaza-18-crown-6 (DBzDA18C6). The thallium ion sensor showed wide linear potentiometric response to thallium (I) ion concentrations ( M to  M) with high sensitivity of 36.87 ± 1.49 mV/decade. Moreover, thallium (I) ion demonstrated fast response time of less than 5 s, high selectivity, reproducibility, storage stability, and negligible response to common interferents. The proposed thallium (I) ion-sensor electrode was also used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration, and it has shown good stoichiometric response for the determination of thallium (I) ion.

Barium concentrations and speciation in mineral natural waters of central Romania

This paper reports the results obtained for the determination of Ba concentrations in mineral groundwater samples collected from drilled outlets located in the counties of Covasna and Harghita (34 sampling points), in five expeditions (spring, summer, and autumn), during 3 years: 2005, 2006, and 2007. The experimental data show that there are some sampling sites in which the barium concentration exceeds 1 mg/L, which is the maximum concentration admitted for barium. These mineral natural waters could be used only for therapeutic purposes. All other analyzed natural mineral waters are proper as both drinking and therapeutic water. By means of a principal component analysis a statistical approach was performed, using the data obtained during those analyzing processes. The distribution of the water saturation indexes with respect to a series of mineral species (alstonite, barite, barytocalcite, nitrobarite, sanbornite, and witherite) suggests that barium tends to remain in solution as ionic species in different concentrations and to be further carried away as such.

Developments in the Field of Conducting and Non-conducting Polymer Based Potentiometric Membrane Sensors for Ions Over the Past Decade

Many research studies have been conducted on the use of conjugated polymers in the construction of chemical sensors including potentiometric, conductometric and amperometric sensors or biosensors over the last decade. The induction of conductivity on conjugated polymers by treating them with suitable oxidizing agents won Heeger, MacDiarmid and Shirakawa the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Common conjugated polymers are poly(acetylene)s, poly(pyrrole)s, poly(thiophene)s, poly(terthiophene)s, poly(aniline)s, poly(fluorine)s, poly(3-alkylthiophene)s, polytetrathiafulvalenes, polynapthalenes, poly(p-phenylene sulfide), poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), polyparaphenylene, polyazulene, polyparaphenylene sulfide, polycarbazole and polydiaminonaphthalene. More than 60 sensors for inorganic cations and anions with different characteristics based on conducting polymers have been reported. There have also been reports on the application of non-conducting polymers (nCPs), i.e. PVC, in the construction of potentiometric membrane sensors for determination of more than 60 inorganic cations and anions. However, the leakage of ionophores from the membranes based on these polymers leads to relatively lower life times. In this article, we try to give an overview of Solid-Contact ISE (SCISE), Single-Piece ISE (SPISE), Conducting Polymer (CP)-Based, and also non-conducting polymer PVC-based ISEs for various ions which their difference is in the way of the polymer used with selective membrane. In SCISEs and SPISEs, the plasticized PVC containing the ionophore and ionic additives govern the selectivity behavior of the electrode and the conducting polymer is responsible of ion-to-electron transducer. However, in CPISEs, the conducting polymer layer is doped with a suitable ionophore which enhances the ion selectivity of the CP while its redox response has to be suppressed.

Mebendazole Selective Membrane Sensor and Its Application to Pharmaceutical Analysis

A PVC membrane sensor for the selective determination of mebendazole (MBZ) was fabricated. The sensor is based on an ion association of MBZ with silicotungstic acid (STA) as ion pair and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (BEP) as the plasticizing agent in a PVC matrix. The sensor showed a linear response for MBZ for a concentration range 1.0x10(-6)-5.0x10(-2) M with a Nernstian slope of 55.8 mV/decade (limit of detection 6.3x10(-7) M) in the pH range 4-7. It has a fast response time of <30 s. The sensor showed a very good selectivity for MBZ with respect to a large number of ions. The direct determination of MBZ in pharmaceutical formulations gave results that compare well with the data obtained from the standard method.

A potentiometric rhodamine-B based membrane sensor for the selective determination of chromium ions in wastewater

The construction and performance characteristics of a novel chromate ion-selective membrane sensor are described and used for determining chromium(III) and chromium(VI) ions. The sensor is based on the use of a rhodamine-B chromate ion-associate complex as an electroactive material in a poly(vinyl chloride) membrane plasticized with o-nitrophenyloctyl ether as a solvent mediator. In a phosphate buffer solution of pH 6 - 7, the sensor displays a stable, reproducible and linear potential response over the concentration range of 1 x 10(-1) - 5 x 10(-6) mol l(-1) with an anionic Nernstian slope of 30.8 +/- 0.5 mV decade(-1) and a detection limit of 1 x 10(-6) mol l(-1) Cr(VI). High selectivity for Cr(VI) is offered over many common anions (e.g., I-, Br-, Cl-, IO4-, CN-, acetate, oxalate, citrate, sulfate, phosphate, thiosulfate, selenite, nitrate) and cations (e.g., Ag+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Al3+, Cr3+). The sensor is used for determining Cr(VI) and/or Cr(III) ions in separate or mixed solutions after the oxidation of Cr(III) into Cr(VI) with H2O2. As low as 0.2 microg ml(-1) of chromium is determined with a precision of +/-1.2%. The chromium contents of some wastewater samples were accurately assessed, and the results agreed fairly well with data obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry.