Fate of Poly(3-octylthiophene) Transducer in Solid Contact Ion-Selective Electrodes

An experimental approach allowing visualization and quantification of the underestimated spontaneous process of partition of conducting polymer transducer material to the ion-selective membrane phase is proposed. The approach proposed is based on optical properties of the transducer material applied, using polythiophene as a model system. It is shown that this process occurs not only during the sensor preparation step but also during pretreatment of the sensor before use. As shown, this uncontrolled partition of the transducer to the receptor leads to conducting polymer contents in the membrane phase reaching 0.5% w/w; this process is accompanied by a partial spontaneous change of the oxidation state of polythiophene. The conducting polymer present in the membrane participates to some extent in the overall response of the sensor, which can be observed as a change in the polythiophene optical emission spectra. Fluorescence microscopic images obtained clearly show that the conducting polymer is distributed throughout the membrane thickness, being present also at the membrane/solution interface. The experimental results presented were obtained for K⁺-selective sensors using poly(3-octylthiophene) as a model transducer; however, the proposed approach is also applicable for other systems.