Polymer nanocarbon materials as ion-to-electron transducers in solid-contact ion-selective electrodes

Carbon nanoparticles materials in polymer modification have gained particular importance in modern potentiometric studies after they were discovered to be ion-to-electron transducers in solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SC-ISEs). This paper describes the preparation and comparative evaluation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and Nafion membranes incorporated with light fullerene C60, single carbon nanotubes (SWC-NTs) and their mixture as transducer interlayers in the SC-ISE based on the ion-sensing PVC-membrane containing a high lipophilic 2-[bis-octadecyl sulfonic)-closo-decaborate anion. The best electroanalytical performance was achieved for the sensor fabricated with the transducer made by combining two transducing layers, a Nafion film modified with fullerene C60 and a plasticized PVC film modified with SWCNTs-C60 hybrid filler, which were sequentially applied onto the substrate carbositall electrode surface. The test results showed that the newly prepared a layer-by-layer SC-ISE is suitable for the sensitive determination of local anesthetics and some other protonable nitrogen-containing drugs.