The New Ion-Selective Electrodes Developed for Ferric Cations Determination, Modified with Synthesized Al and Fe-Based Nanoparticles

Sensors (Basel). 2021 Dec 31;22(1):297. doi: 10.3390/s22010297.

Abstract

The solid-state ion-selective electrodes presented here are based on the FePO4:Ag2S:polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) = 1:1:2 with an addition of (0.25-1)% microwave-synthesized hematite (α-Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), boehmite [γ-AlO(OH)], and alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) in order to establish ideal membrane composition for iron(III) cations determination. Synthesized NPs are characterized with Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The iron oxides NPs, more specifically, magnetite and hematite, showed a more positive effect on the sensing properties than boehmite and alumina NPs. The hematite NPs had the most significant effect on the linear range for the determination of ferric cations. The membrane containing 0.25% hematite NPs showed a slope of -19.75 mV per decade in the linear range from 1.2∙10-6 to 10-2 mol L-1, with a correlation factor of 0.9925. The recoveries for the determination of ferric cations in standard solutions were 99.4, 106.7, 93.6, and 101.1% for different concentrations.

Keywords: iron(III) cations; microwave synthesis; nanoparticles; potentiometry.