Novel imidazole PVC-based sensor based on a thiopyrilium compound

A novel imidazole membrane sensor based on 2,4,6-triphenyl thiopyrilium perchlorate (TTP) as an excellent charged carrier, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), the plasticizer dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and oleic acid as an additive is described. The sensor responds to imidazole over a wide concentration range from 1.0 x 10(-5) to 1.0 x 10(-1) M with a slope of +33.5 +/- 0.5 mV per decade. The detection limit of the electrode is 3.0 x 10(-6) M and it can be used for at least four weeks without any measurable change in sensitivity. The sensitivity of the electrode is high enough to permit the detection of as little as 0.2 microg/ml of imidazole without any significant interference from high levels of other components and especially, amino acids. The potentiometric selectivity coefficient data revealed negligible interference from common cations, anions and amino acids. The electrode has a relatively fast response time (<30 s), and good slope stability. The proposed sensor was successfully applied to the determination of imidazole in synthetic serum samples.