Analytical Sciences

A Mercury(II) Ion-selective Electrode Based on N,N-Dimethyl-formamide-salicylacylhydrazone as a Neutral Carrier

Guangrong YE, Yaqin CHAI, Ruo YUAN, and Jianyuan DAI

Chongqing Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China

A new PVC membrane mercury(II) ion electrode based on N,N-dimethylformamide-salicylacylhydrazone (DMFAS) as an ionophore is described, which shows excellent potentiometric response characteristics and displays a linear log[Hg²⁺] versus EMF response over a wide concentration range between 6.2 × 10^-7 and 8.0 × 10^-2 M with a Nerstian slope of 29.6 mV per decade and a detection limit of 5.0 × 10^-7 M. The response time for the electrode is less than 30 s and the electrode can be used for more than 2 months with less than a 2 mV observed divergence in a potentials. The proposed electrode exhibits very good selectivity for mercury(II) ions over many cations in a wide pH range (pH 1 - 4). The electrode was also applied to the determination of a mercury(II) ion in vegetables and in Azolla filiculoides.

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