A uranyl selective electrode based on neutral bidentate organo-phosphorus compounds

Abstract

Construction and performance characteristics of a selective uranyl-sensitive membrane electrode based on the use of tetraphenyl-<em>o</em>-xylyldiphosphine dioxide as a neutral bidentate carrier are described. The effect of tetra-(<em>p</em>-chloro-phenyl) borate (T<em>p</em>CIPB) as anion discriminator on both the detection limit and selectivity of the electrode has been studied. The electrode displays linear response over the concentration range 10^-1-10^-4m. UO<img src='http://www.niscair.res.in/jinfo/twoplustwo.gif' border=0> with a cationic slope of 26-29 mV/p UO₂ over the <i>p</i>H range 2.75- 3.25. High selectivity for UO<img src='http://www.niscair.res.in/jinfo/twoplustwo.gif' border=0> is offered over the cations Li⁺ , Na⁺ , K⁺ , NH<img src='http://www.niscair.res.in/jinfo/plusfour.gif' border=0>,Mg²⁺, Ca² + , Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺ , Mn²⁺ , Co²⁺ , Ni²⁺ , Cu²⁺ , Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ and AI³⁺ Performance of the electrode has been compared with those of some other structurally different neutral bidentate organo-phosphorus ligands.