Development of Dual Ion-selective Electrodes in Double-Barrel Glass Pipette at One Micrometer for Simultaneous Measurement of Sodium and Potassium Ions

We have developed the method of preparing sodium and potassium ion-selective electrodes in double-barrel glass pipettes at the size of 1 μm. Stable and precise fabrication parameters were found for producing a double-barrel 1 μm pipette, and the produced double-barrel micropipettes were used in this study. The ionophores comprising of crown ethers of 12-crown-4 for sodium ions and 15-crown-5 for potassium ions were respectively doped in poly(vinyl chloride) films in the divided double-barrel glass pipette. The obtained selectivity coefficients and selectivity ratios are compared with the previous studies. The developed ion-selective dual-micropipettes can be applied for local ion-selective measurements such as living cells.