Sulfate-selective electrode based on a complex of copper.

A new sulfate-selective electrode based on the complex N,N'-bis(2-amino-1-oxo-phenelenyl)phenylenediamine copper(II) (CuL) as the membrane carrier was developed. The electrode exhibited a good Nernstian slope of -29.5 +/- 0.5 mV/decade and a linear range of 1.0 x 10(-7) - 1.0 x 10(-1) M for sulfate. The limit of detection was 1.0 x 10(-8) M. It has a fast response time of 10 s and can be used for more than three months. The selective coefficients were determined by the fixed interference method (FIM). The electrode could be used in the pH range 3.5 - 8.0. It was employed as an indicator electrode for direct determination of sulfate in pharmacy and cement samples.