Glass electrodes, selective

Eisenman [98] verified his relationship for the selectivity coefficient (3.4.1) using a glass electrode selective for both potassium and sodium ions. First he found... 

Many glass, i.e., silicon dioxide, membranes have some intrinsic porosity and selectivity. The pH glass electrode selectively absorbs H+ ions to give a potential proportional to the logarithm of the H+ concentration. Other membranes have been developed as ion-specific electrodes where the membrane is selectively permeable to ions to give a potential difference proportional to the concentration of that ion. 

From rudimentary beginnings, the calcium ISE has become a reliable and widely applied analytical sensor which meets many, but not all, of the above ideal criteria. The developments in calcium ISE have been prompted mainly by the interest shown in analytical methods for the determination of ionised calcium in biological fluids. Methods for the potentiometric determination of calcium ion followed from the discovery of the glass electrode selective for hydrogen ion. ... 

Faraday s law (p. 496) galvanostat (p. 464) glass electrode (p. 477) hanging mercury drop electrode (p. 509) hydrodynamic voltammetry (p. 513) indicator electrode (p. 462) ionophore (p. 482) ion-selective electrode (p. 475) liquid-based ion-selective electrode (p. 482) liquid junction potential (p. 470) mass transport (p. 511) mediator (p. 500) membrane potential (p. 475) migration (p. 512) nonfaradaic current (p. 512)... 

Ion-selective electrodes can also become sensors (qv) for gases such as carbon dioxide (qv), ammonia (qv), and hydrogen sulfide by isolating the gas in buffered solutions protected from the sample atmosphere by gas-permeable membranes. Typically, pH glass electrodes are used, but electrodes selective to carbonate or sulfide may be more selective. 

Specific-Ion Electrodes In addition to the pH glass electrode specific for hydrogen ions, a number of electrodes that are selective for the measurement of other ions have been developed. This selectivity is obtained through the composition of the electrode membrane (glass, polymer, or liquid-liquid) and the composition of the elec trode. Tbese electrodes are subject to interference from other ions, and the response is a function of the total ionic strength of the solution. However, electrodes have been designed to be highly selective for specific ions, and when properly used, these provide valuable process measurements. 

For selective estimation of phenols pollution of environment such chromatographic methods as gas chromatography with flame-ionization detector (ISO method 8165) and high performance liquid chromatography with UV-detector (EPA method 625) is recommended. For determination of phenol, cresols, chlorophenols in environmental samples application of HPLC with amperometric detector is perspective. Phenols and chlorophenols can be easy oxidized and determined with high sensitivity on carbon-glass electrode. 

To measure the e.m.f. the electrode system must be connected to a potentiometer or to an electronic voltmeter if the indicator electrode is a membrane electrode (e.g. a glass electrode), then a simple potentiometer is unsuitable and either a pH meter or a selective-ion meter must be employed the meter readings may give directly the varying pH (or pM) values as titration proceeds, or the meter may be used in the millivoltmeter mode, so that e.m.f. values are recorded. Used as a millivoltmeter, such meters can be used with almost any electrode assembly to record the results of many different types of potentiometric titrations, and in many cases the instruments have provision for connection to a recorder so that a continuous record of the titration results can be obtained, i.e. a titration curve is produced. 

Glass electrodes are responsive to univalent cations. The selectivity for these cations is achieved by varying the composition of a thin ion-sensitive glass membrane. 

Vlasov YG, Bychkov EA (1989) Sodium ion-selective chalcogenide glass electrodes. Anal Lett 22 1125-1144... 

Figure 23.8 shows the readings of a glass electrode [the measured values of of a cell of the type (23.5)] as a function of solution pH. In the range from acidic to neutral solutions, this curve perfectly obeys Eq. (23.7) (i.e., the potential varies linearly by 0.06 V per unit of pH). However, in alkaline solutions the curve departs from this function ( alkali error of the glass electrode ) in strongly alkaline solutions the readings of the electrode are practically independent of solution pH. This is due to violation of the selectivity conditions. At a pH value of 10 and a sodium ion... 

Glass electrodes are used for the analysis of hydrogen ions various other types of ion-selective electrodes are used for the other ions. Electrodes with ion-selective solvent membranes have become very popular. These electrodes are made in the form of thin glass capillaries (about 1 rm in diameter), which in the lower part contain a small volume of a liquid that is immiscible with water the remainder of the capillary is filled with electrolyte solution (e.g., 3M KCl). 

The electrolytes Na", and Cl are second only to glucose in being the most frequently run hospital tests. Many clinical chemistry analyzers now contain an ISE module for electrolyte analysis. Most commonly the module will consist of a Na -glass electrode, a valinomycin/PVC electrode, a Ag/AgCl pellet or a quaternary ammonium ion/PVC electrode and a reference electrode. A selective electrode for the bicarbonate ion continues to elude workers in the field. An indirect measurement of HCOf must be made. The sample is usually reacted with acid to evolve carbon dioxide gas which is measured with a traditional Severinghaus type CO2 electrode. Alternatively, the sample is treated with base to convert HCO to CO3 and a carbonate ion-selective electrode is used In this manner, the complete primary electrolyte profile is obtained electrochemically. 

The ammonium ion concentration may be monitored with a cation selective glass electrode or an neutral carrier based ion-selective electrode The pH may... 

Most suitable would be the use of a perfectly NH4+ ion-selective glass electrode however, a disadvantage of this type of enzyme electrode is the time required for the establishment of equilibrium (several minutes) moreover, the normal Nernst response of 59 mV per decade (at 25° C) is practically never reached. Nevertheless, in biochemical investigations these electrodes offer special possibilities, especially because they can also be used in the reverse way as an enzyme-sensing electrode, i.e., by testing an enzyme with a substrate layer around the bulb of the glass electrode. 

In practice, the pH is mostly measured with a glass electrode (see Section 6.3), connected with a calomel electrode (see Section 3.2.2). The measuring system is calibrated by using a single standard S, with a pH(S) value lying as close as possible to the pH(X) value. The pH(X) value is then calculated from (S), (X) and pH(S) by Eq. (3.3.4). It is preferable to use two standards Sl and S2, selected so that pH ) is smaller and pH(S2) larger than pH(X) (both the pH(S) values should be as close to pH(X) as possible). The value of pH(X) is then calculated from the usual formula for linear interpolation ... 

The search for models of biological membranes led to the formation of a separate branch of electrochemistry, i.e. membrane electrochemistry. The most important results obtained in this field include the theory and application of ion-exchanger membranes and the discovery of ion-selective electrodes (including glass electrodes) and bilayer lipid membranes. 

This type of membrane consists of a water-insoluble solid or glassy electrolyte. One ionic sort in this electrolyte is bound in the membrane structure, while the other, usually but not always the determinand ion, is mobile in the membrane (see Section 2.6). The theory of these ion-selective electrodes will be explained using the glass electrode as an example this is the oldest and best known sensor in the whole field of ion-selective electrodes. 

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