Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry

Nanomolar Detection of Alkyl Dimethyl Hydroxyethyl Ammonium Surfactant by a Lipophile-doped Solid Contact Electrode

Abstract

Hazem M Abu Shawish, M Gaber, Abdalla M Khedr and Khalid I Abed-Almonem

Various methods for improving the lower detection limit of polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes have been approached recently. The ion-selective electrode with solid-state membrane is described. Tetraphenyl borate as a lipophilic anion, is incorporated into the membrane of the electrode to improve its detection limit and selectivity. The detection limit was significantly lowered where nanomolar quantities were traced. Other favorable characteristics of the electrode are noticeably short response time of 5 seconds and good selectivity over the common interfering chemical species as well as its proven usefulness for determination of the surfactant in miscellaneous samples.