Highly selective copper membrane electrode using C-p-nitrophenyl-N-phenylnitrone

Abstract

The construction, performance characteristics and applications of a polymeric membrane electrode for Cu(II) ion are reported. The electrode was prepared by incorporating C-p-nitrophenyl-N-phenylnitrone as the charge carrier into a plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membrane. The influence of membrane composition, pH and concentration of the solution were investigated. The electrode exhibits a potentiometric response for Cu²⁺ ion over the concentration range 1 × 10⁻⁶–1 × 10⁻¹ M with a detection limit of 5 × 10⁻⁷ M Cu²⁺. It shows a relatively fast response time of about 15 s and can be used for about two months without any considerable divergence in potential. The electrode can be used at a pH of between 4.0–8.0. The selectivity of proposed electrode for Cu²⁺ in the presence of several metal ions. It was used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of Cu²⁺ with EDTA.