A thiourea derivative as potential ionophore for copper sensing

A new thiourea derivative, N1,N3-bis[[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]carbamothioyl]isophthalamide (TPC), as a potential copper ionophore was investigated. TPC was immobilized via drop casting method into poly(n-butyl acrylate) pBA membrane and the sensor was characterized by potentiometric method. The sensor fabricated based on TPC showed a Nernstian response towards copper ion with the slope of 27.07±2.84 mV/decade in the range of 1.0×10-6 - 1.0-10-4 M and limit of detection of 6.24 × 10-7 M. In addition, based on the separate solution method (SSM), the logarithm selectivity coefficients were less than -3.00 for monovalent, divalent and trivalent cations that are present in the environmental water samples such as K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe3+. This confirmed that the sensor fabricated with TPC exhibited good sensitivity and selectivity towards copper ion.A new thiourea derivative, N1,N3-bis[[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]carbamothioyl]isophthalamide (TPC), as a potential copper ionophore was investigated. TPC was immobilized via drop casting method into poly(n-butyl acrylate) pBA membrane and the sensor was characterized by potentiometric method. The sensor fabricated based on TPC showed a Nernstian response towards copper ion with the slope of 27.07±2.84 mV/decade in the range of 1.0×10-6 - 1.0-10-4 M and limit of detection of 6.24 × 10-7 M. In addition, based on the separate solution method (SSM), the logarithm selectivity coefficients were less than -3.00 for monovalent, divalent and trivalent cations that are present in the environmental water samples such as K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe3+. This confirmed that the sensor fabricated with TPC exhibited good sensitivity and selectivity towards copper ion.