Application of personal microcomputers in the analytical laboratory--I: Potentiometric analysis

A novel general-purpose interface-controller unit has been designed and applied in potentiometric analysis. The unit is operated by a personal microcomputer programmed in BASIC. The interface-controller permits direct reading of specific ion-electrodes and can activate, under program control, laboratory instruments such as motor-driven burettes. The interface-controller is expendable to 16 analogue input channels, 16 binary (logic) input lines and 16 control relays but requires only one microcomputer I/O port (a total of 9 I/O lines) to handle all operations. Analogue to digital conversion is realized by counting, with the microcomputer, the output frequency of an analogue-to-frequency converter. This inexpensive method is effective in rejecting interfering signals such as power-line interference. The system has been applied in potentiometric titration analysis for determining the apparent dissociation constants of carbonic acid in sea-water and Dead Sea brines, and for ammonia determination with a gas-sensing electrode.