Ion-selective electrodes potential

Van Staden reported a rapid, reliable automated method for direct measurement of the chloride content in milk based on the principles of flow injection analysis and the use of a dialyser to remove interferents. Dialysed chloride was measured by means of a coated tubular chloride ion-selective electrode. Potential changes arising from the interference of casein were thus avoided and baseline stability ensured. The results obtained for chloride in milk compared well with those provided by standard recommended methods. The linear range for chloride was 250-5000 pg/mL for 30 pL of sample, and the coefficient of variation was better than 0.5%. The throughput was ca. 120 samples/h [132],... 

In practice, however, deviation from the ideal electrode behavior is common, and an additional contribution to the total measured ion activity has to be considered due to the presence of the interfering ion j in the sample solution. Under these conditions the ion-selective electrode potential can be approximated by the Nikolsky-Eisenman equation ... 

The tetrabutylammonium chloride-tetrabutylammonium tetraphenylbo-rate junction of equal concentrations in aqueous and oil phase are commonly used as the practical reference for LL measurements. Often the interfacial potentials are expressed in relative terms as the potential vs. the TBA+ ion selective electrode. Potentials thus expressed are 245.7 mV lower than if they were expressed relative to the tetraphenylarsonium-tetraphenylborate convention, which de facto determines the practical standard scale for ITIES studies. 

When operating properly the ion-selective electrode potential, E, with respect to the reference electrode is given by... 

The above implies simple measurement of the ion-selective electrode potential, E, with respect to a suitable reference electrode and relating the potential to activity or concentration by a calibration graph as the means of using ion-sele-tive electrodes. Use in potentiometric titrations depends on the change in E with volume of added titrant. There are, however, other techniques by which ion-selective electrodes may be used these include differential and null-point poten-tiometry. 

When first developed, potentiometry was restricted to redox equilibria at metallic electrodes, limiting its application to a few ions. In 1906, Cremer discovered that a potential difference exists between the two sides of a thin glass membrane when opposite sides of the membrane are in contact with solutions containing different concentrations of H3O+. This discovery led to the development of the glass pH electrode in 1909. Other types of membranes also yield useful potentials. Kolthoff and Sanders, for example, showed in 1937 that pellets made from AgCl could be used to determine the concentration of Ag+. Electrodes based on membrane potentials are called ion-selective electrodes, and their continued development has extended potentiometry to a diverse array of analytes. 

The potential of the indicator electrode in a potentiometric electrochemical cell is proportional to the concentration of analyte. Two classes of indicator electrodes are used in potentiometry metallic electrodes, which are the subject of this section, and ion-selective electrodes, which are covered in the next section. 

If metallic electrodes were the only useful class of indicator electrodes, potentiometry would be of limited applicability. The discovery, in 1906, that a thin glass membrane develops a potential, called a membrane potential, when opposite sides of the membrane are in contact with solutions of different pH led to the eventual development of a whole new class of indicator electrodes called ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). following the discovery of the glass pH electrode, ion-selective electrodes have been developed for a wide range of ions. Membrane electrodes also have been developed that respond to the concentration of molecular analytes by using a chemical reaction to generate an ion that can be monitored with an ion-selective electrode. The development of new membrane electrodes continues to be an active area of research. 

Membrane Potentials Ion-selective electrodes, such as the glass pH electrode, function by using a membrane that reacts selectively with a single ion. figure 11.10 shows a generic diagram for a potentiometric electrochemical cell equipped with an ion-selective electrode. The shorthand notation for this cell is... 

An ion-selective electrode based on a glass membrane in which the potential develops from an ion-exchange reaction on the membrane s surface. 

If a mixture of an insoluble silver salt and Ag2S is used to make the membrane, then the membrane potential also responds to the concentration of the anion of the added silver salt. Thus, pellets made from a mixture of Ag2S and AgCl can serve as a Ck ion-selective electrode, with a cell potential of... 

Membranes fashioned from a mixture of Ag2S with CdS, CuS, or PbS are used to make ion-selective electrodes that respond to the concentration of Cd +, Cu +, or Pb +. In this case the cell potential is... 

The membrane potential for a E ion-selective electrode results from a difference in the solubility of LaE3 on opposite sides of the membrane, with the potential given by... 

The change in the concentration of H3O+ is monitored with a pH ion-selective electrode, for which the cell potential is given by equation 11.9. The relationship between the concentration of H3O+ and CO2 is given by rearranging the equilibrium constant expression for reaction 11.10 thus... 

The concentration of Ca + in a sample of sea water is determined using a Ca ion-selective electrode and a one-point standard addition. A 10.00-mL sample is transferred to a 100-mL volumetric flask and diluted to volume. A 50.00-mL aliquot of sample is placed in a beaker with the Ca ion-selective electrode and a reference electrode, and the potential is measured as -0.05290 V. A 1.00-mL aliquot of a 5.00 X 10 M standard solution of Ca + is added, and a potential of -0.04417 V is measured. What is the concentration of Ca + in the sample of sea water ... 

Free Ions Versus Complexed Ions In discussing the ion-selective electrode, we noted that the membrane potential is influenced by the concentration of F , but not the concentration of HF. An analysis for fluoride, therefore, is pH-dependent. Below a pH of approximately 4, fluoride is present predominantly as HF, and a quantitative analysis for total fluoride is impossible. If the pH is increased to greater than 4, however, the equilibrium... 

The effect of an uncertainty in potential on the accuracy of a potentiometric method of analysis is evaluated using a propagation of uncertainty. For a membrane ion-selective electrode the general expression for potential is given as... 

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 be incorporated in flow cells to monitor the concentration of an analyte in standards and samples that are pumped through the flow cell. As the analyte passes through the cell, a potential spike is recorded instead of a steady-state potential. The concentration of K+ in serum has been determined in this fashion, using standards prepared in a matrix of 0.014 M NaCl. ... 

The concentration of NO3 in a water sample is determined by a one-point standard addition using an N03 ion-selective electrode. A 25.00-mL sample is placed in a beaker, and a potential of -t0.102 V is measured. A 1.00-mL aliquot of a 200.0 ppm standard solution of N03 is added, after which the potential is found to be -t0.089 V. Report the concentration of N03 in parts per million. 

Determine the parts per million of F in the tap water, (b) For the analysis of toothpaste a 0.3619-g sample was transferred to a 100-mL volumetric flask along with 50.0 mL of TISAB and diluted to volume with distilled water. Three 20.0-mL aliquots were removed, and the potential was measured with an L ion-selective electrode using a saturated calomel electrode as a reference. Live separate 1.00-mL additions of a 100.0-ppm solution of L were added to each, measuring the potential following each addition. 

Procedure. Prepare a set of external standards containing 0.5 g/L to 3.0 g/L creatinine (in 5 mM H2SO4) using a stock solution of 10.00 g/L creatinine in 5 mM H2SO4. In addition, prepare a solution of 1.00 x 10 M sodium picrate. Pipet 25.00 mL of 0.20 M NaOH, adjusted to an ionic strength of 1.00 M using Na2S04, into a thermostated reaction cell at 25 °C. Add 0.500 mL of the 1.00 x 10 M picrate solution to the reaction cell. Suspend a picrate ion-selective electrode in the solution, and monitor the potential until it stabilizes. When the potential is stable, add 2.00 mL of a... 

The potential of the ion-selective electrode actually responds to the activity of picrate in solution. By adjusting the NaOH solution to a high ionic strength, we maintain a constant ionic strength in all standards and samples. Because the relationship between activity and concentration is a function of ionic strength (see Chapter 6), the use of a constant ionic strength allows us to treat the potential as though it were a function of the concentration of picrate. 

Sources of Error. pH electrodes are subject to fewer iaterfereaces and other types of error than most potentiometric ionic-activity sensors, ie, ion-selective electrodes (see Electro analytical techniques). However, pH electrodes must be used with an awareness of their particular response characteristics, as weU as the potential sources of error that may affect other components of the measurement system, especially the reference electrode. Several common causes of measurement problems are electrode iaterferences and/or fouling of the pH sensor, sample matrix effects, reference electrode iastabiHty, and improper caHbration of the measurement system (12). 

Methods for iodine deterrnination in foods using colorimetry (95,96), ion-selective electrodes (94,97), micro acid digestion methods (98), and gas chromatography (99) suffer some limitations such as potential interferences, possibHity of contamination, and loss during analysis. More recendy neutron activation analysis, which is probably the most sensitive analytical technique for determining iodine, has also been used (100—102). 

Individual polyethers exhibit varying specificities for cations. Some polyethers have found appHcation as components in ion-selective electrodes for use in clinical medicine or in laboratory studies involving transport studies or measurement of transmembrane electrical potential (4). The methyl ester of monensin [28636-21 -7] i2ls been incorporated into a membrane sHde assembly used for the assay of semm sodium (see Biosensors) (5). Studies directed toward the design of a lithium selective electrode resulted in the synthesis of a derivative of monensin lactone that is highly specific for lithium (6). 

According to the definition, a passive technique is one for which no appHed signal is required to measure a response that is analytically usehil. Only the potential (the equiHbrium potential) corresponding to zero current is measured. Because no current flows, the auxiHary electrode is no longer needed. The two-electrode system, where the working electrode may or not be an ion-selective electrode, suffices. 

Potentiometric Titrations. If one wishes to analyze electroactive analytes that are not ions or for which ion-selective electrodes are not available, two problems arise. First, the working electrodes, such as silver, platinum, mercury, etc, are not selective. Second, metallic electrodes may exhibit mixed potentials, which may arise from a variety of causes. For example, silver may exchange electrons with redox couples in solution, sense Ag" via electron exchange with the external circuit, or tarnish to produce pH-sensitive oxide sites or Ag2S sites that are sensitive to sulfide and haUde. On the other... 

Ion-selective electrodes are a relatively cheap approach to analysis of many ions in solution. The emf of the selective electrode is measured relative to a reference electrode. The electrode potential varies with the logarithm of the activity of the ion. The electrodes are calibrated using standards of the ion under investigation. Application is limited to those ions not subject to the same interference as ion chromatography (the preferred technique), e.g. fluoride, hydrogen chloride (see Table 10.3). 

Ion-selective bulk membranes are the electro-active component of ion-selective electrodes, which sense the activity of certain ions by developing an ion-selective potential difference according to the Nernst equation at their phase boundary with the solution to be measured. The main differences to biological membranes are their thickness and their symmetrical structure. Nevertheless they are used as models for biomembranes. 

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