Estimation of Trace Level Cadmium(II) by Polyaniline-zirconium Phosphoborate Nanocomposite-based Membrane Electrode

Abstract

Present work deals with a new ion selective membrane electrode suitable for determining trace cadmium(II) concentration in environmental samples. After structural and morphological characterization, the synthesized nanocomposite was observed to be selective towards Cd(II) on the basis of distribution studies, and was further employed in fabricating Cd(II) ion selective membrane electrode. Polyaniline incorporated zirconium phosphoborate nanocomposite prepared by the sol-gel method was used as an electroactive material and the epoxy resin, araldite as binder in the fabrication of membrane electrode. The fabricated electrode exhibits sub-Nernstian response of 22.9 mV/decade over a wide concentration range, low limit of detection (4 × 10^–7 M), fast response time (14 s), long life time of 4 months and wide pH working range (2.5 to 8.0). The electrode was successfully used for estimation of trace levels of Cd(II) in industrial effluents of Ni‒Cd battery and printer toner units.