Highly selective and sensitive thiocyanate membrane electrode based on nickel(II)-1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octabutoxyphthalocyanine Original Research Article

A highly selective membrane electrode based on nickel(II)-1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octabutoxyphthalocyanine (NOBP) is presented. The proposed electrode shows very good selectivity for thiocyanate ions over a wide variety of common inorganic and organic anions. The sensor displays a near Nernstian slope of −58.7 ± 0.6 mV per decade. The working concentration range of the electrode is 1.0 × 10−6 to −1.0 × 10−1 M with a detection limit of 5.7 × 10−7 M (33.06 ng/mL). The response time of the sensor in whole concentration ranges is very short (<10 s). The response of the sensor is independent on the pH range of 4.3–9.8. The best performance was obtained with a membrane composition of 30% PVC, 65% dibutyl phthalate, 3% NOBP and 2% hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide. It was successfully applied to direct determination of thiocyanate in biological samples, and as an indicator electrode for titration of thiocyanate ions with AgNO3 solution.