New polyvinyl chloride membrane electrode without inner reference solution for the determination of methadone

A PVC membrane electrode, without inner reference solution, based on an ion association extraction system responding to methadone (MD) is described. It incorporates a methadone-tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate ion-pair complex in 2-nitrophenyloctyl ether. The prepared electrode exhibits a near Nernstian response (59.5 mV per decade) over the concentration range 2.5 x 10(-5)-10(-1) M MD in solutions of pH 2.0-9.0. The reproducibility of the electrode potentials was +/-1 mV by day during at least 6 months. Response time was about 5 s for MD concentrations between 10(-5) and 10(-1) M. Determinations of MD in pharmaceutical preparations (tablets and syrups) by direct potentiometry gave an average recovery of 99.3% (w/w) and a mean S.D. of 1.5% (w/w).