Comparison of selectivity and sensitivity of various ferric selective electrodes prepared using N-((bis(dimethyl amino)methylene)carbamothioyl)benzamide

Abstract

N-((Bis(dimethyl amino)methylene)carbamothioyl)benzamide (NBMCB) was synthesized, characterized, and used as an ionophore for producing three novel ion-selective potentiometric sensors for Fe(III) determination. Firstly, using the molecular mechanic-based MMFF94 method, the most stable NBMCB's conformer and its isosteric complexes with various cations were determined. According to the Gibbs free energy results of the reaction, the thermodynamic complexation reactivity of Fe(III) and the ligand was acceptable. These results were obtained using the B3LYP approach and the 6-31G(d,p) basis set that was substituted for heavy metals by the LanL2DZ basis set. We used UV-visible spectrophotometry to confirm the tendency of NBMCB to react with Fe(III). Generally, three diverse liquid membrane ferric selective electrodes were obtained by the use of the specified ligand: classic with a liquid internal electrolyte-ferric selective electrode (LIE-FSE), solid state-FSE (SS-FSE), and coated wire-FSE (CW-FSE). The reactions exhibited Nernstian behavior across all electrodes. The limit of detection was enhanced for the SS-FSE (3 × 10⁻⁹ M) and the CW-FSE (3 × 10⁻⁷ M) in comparison with that of the LIE-FSE (7 × 10⁻⁷ M). The lifetime of the LIE-FSE was 8 weeks, while it was 10 weeks for the SS-FSE and the CW-FSE. Elimination of the internal solution reduced the limit of detection and prolonged the lifespan of the sensors. Also, the three electrodes all had a short response time of around 5–7 s. The sensors were utilized as indicator electrodes during the potentiometric titration of Fe(III) using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.