A flexible capacity-metric creatinine sensor based on polygon-shape polyvinylpyrrolidone/CuO and Fe2O3 NRDs electrodeposited on three-dimensional TiO2-V2O5-Polypyrrole nanocomposite.

The innovations of the present work include these items; (i) Design and preparation of three-dimensional flexible conductive polymeric nanocomposites (3D-FCPNCs) containing polypyrrole (PPy), V2O5 and TiO2 and modification of their surface with polygon-shape polyvinylpyrrolidone/CuO nanorods (PVP/CuO NRDs) and Fe2O3 NRDs using an hierarchical process based on isoelectric point (IEP), (ii) Application of the prepared surfaces as the flexible enzymeless creatinine sensors using four calibration curves (impedimetric, real capacitance (C'), imaginary capacitance (C″) and double layer capacitance (Cdl)) obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. The best results have been obtained using PVP/CuO NRDs-Fe2O3 NRDs/TiO2-V2O5-PPy 3D-FCPNC hierarchical electrode with a wide range of the linear concentration range (10 nmol L-1 -1.3 mmol L-1). Although, determination of creatinine through extraction of parameters such as charge transfer resistance (Rct) and Cdl from measuring impedance at a wide range of frequencies provides useful information about the characteristics of the electrolyte/electrode interface, but measuring real and imaginary capacitances at a specific frequency instead of a wide frequency range can decrease the response time to lower than 1 min. Finally, the prepared hierarchical enzymeless sensors have been successfully used to estimate creatinine concentration in blood serum.

Thiocyanate ion-selective PVC membrane electrode based on N,N'-ethylene-bis(4-methylsalicylidineiminato)nickel(II).

A highly selective poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane electrode based on an N,N'-ethylene-bis(4-methyl-salicylidineiminato) nickel(II) [Ni(EBMSI)] complex as a carrier for a thiocyanate-selective electrode is reported. The influences of the membrane composition, pH and possible interfering anions were investigated based on the response properties of the electrode. The electrode exhibited a good Nernstian slope of -58.9 +/- 0.7 mV decade(-1), over a wide pH range of 3.5 - 8.5 and a linear range of 1.0 x 10(-6) - 1.0 x 10(-1) M for thiocyanate. The detection limit of electrode was 3.1 x 10(-7) M SCN(-). The selectivity coefficients determined by a fixed interference method (FIM) indicate that a good discriminating ability towards the SCN- ion compared to other anions. The proposed sensor had a fast response time of about 5 - 15 s and could be used for at least 3 months without any considerable divergence in the potential. It was applied as an indicator electrode in the titration of thiocyanate with Ag+ and in the potentiometric determination of thiocyanate in saliva and urine samples.

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.

Perchlorate-selective membrane electrode based on a new complex of uranil.

A potentiometric ion-selective electrode based on new compound, as a carrier, has been successfully developed for detection of perchlorate anion in aqueous solution. Within the perchlorate ion concentration range 1.0x10(-6) to 1.0 mol L(-1) the electrode had a linear response with a Nernstian slope of 60.6+/-1.0 mV per decade . The limit of detection as determined from the intersection of the extrapolated linear segments of the calibration plot was 8.0x10(-7) mol L(-1). The proposed electrode has fairly a good discriminating ability towards ClO(4) (-) ion in comparison to other anions. The sensor has a response time of < or =10 s and can be used for at least 2 months without substantial divergence in potential. It was successfully applied to direct determination of perchlorate in urine and water.

A copper ion-selective electrode with high selectivity prepared by sol-gel and coated wire techniques.

A sol-gel electrode and a coated wire ion-selective poly(vinyl chloride) membrane, based on thiosemicarbazone as a neutral carrier, were successfully developed for the detection of Cu (II) in aqueous solutions. The sol-gel electrode and coated electrode exhibited linear response with Nernstian slopes of 29.2 and 28.1 mV per decade respectively, within the copper ion concentration ranges 1.0 x 10(-5) - 1.0 x 10(-1) M and 6.0 x 10(-6) - 1.0 x 10(-1) M for coated and sol-gel sensors. The coated and sol-gel electrodes show detection limits of 3.0 x 10(-6) and 6.0 x 10(-6) M respectively. The electrodes exhibited good selectivities for a number of alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The proposed electrodes have response times ranging from 10-50 s to achieve a 95% steady potential for Cu2+ concentration. The electrodes are suitable for use in aqueous solutions over a wide pH range (4-7.5). Applications of these electrodes for the determination of copper in real samples, and as an indicator electrode for potentiometric titration of Cu2+ ion using EDTA, are reported. The lifetimes of the electrodes were tested over a period of six months to investigate their stability. No significant change in the performance of the sol-gel electrode was observed over this period, but after two months the coated wire copper-selective electrode exhibited a gradual decrease in the slope. The selectivity of the sol-gel electrode was found to be better than that of the coated wire copper-selective electrode. Based on these results, a novel sol-gel copper-selective electrode is proposed for the determination of copper, and applied to real sample assays.