| Abstract: | Solid‐contacted Potentiometric Electrodes for Measurements of Sulfate Ions in Aqueous Solutions A solid‐contact electrode for potentiometric measurement of sulfate ions in aqueous solutions was developed and examined. The electrode is based on a PVC membrane which contains the ionophore 3‐decyl‐1,5,8‐triazacyclodecan‐2,4‐dione (DTADD). Instead of the usual inner fluid junction, a polypyrrole layer applied on the inner side of the PVC membrane was employed as inner solid contact. The performance of this electrode was compared to solid‐state sulfate‐selective electrodes with the ionophore α,α′‐bis(N′‐phenylthioureylene)‐m‐xylene (BTH) and to electrodes in the coated‐wire configuration. For the parameters sensitivity, selectivity, and long‐term stability, electrodes with the DTADD ionophore show improved properties. In the sulfate concentration range of 5·10–5...10–2 mol L–1 the slope of the response is –(26.8 ± 0.5) mV/decade. The new solid contact sulfate electrodes showed a very low drift of the electrode potential within a period of 150 days when the electrode was stored in 10–2 M Na2SO4. In Na2SO4 solutions of the pH range of 4...9 the electrode potentials were constant. The 95% response time was about 10 s when the sulfate concentration was changed from 10–4 mol L–1 to 10–3 mol L–1. The selectivity with DTADD ionophore relating to the nitrate ions is higher than the selectivity with BTH. Improvements are also made in comparison with sulfate‐selective electrodes described in the literature which contain other ionophores with fluid inner reference electrolytes. |
