Ion-selective electrodes with solid contact for heavy metals determination

Potentiometric properties of ion-selective electrodes with solid contact for lead, cadmium and zinc determination were investigated. The ionic liquids (ILs) alkyl methyl imidazolium chlorides are used as lipophilic ionic additive to the membrane phase and as transducer media. The basic analytical parameters of the studied electrodes, such as the slope characteristic, the detection limit, response time, lifetime, selectivity coefficients against various inorganic cations as well as the dependence of the electrodes potential on pH were determined. The obtained electrode are characterized by good analytical parameters: theoretical characteristic slope, low detection limit, short response time and very long lifetime. The electrodes was successfully applied to the direct determination of lead, cadmium and zinc ions in waste water samples. The results obtained indicate that the electrodes provide a good alternative for the determination of these heavy metals in real samples.