Design of an efficient uranyl ion optical sensor based on 1′-2,2′-(1,2-phenylene)bis(ethene-2,1-diyl)dinaphthalen-2-ol

A new optical uranyl (IV) selective sensor by incorporation of 1,1′-2,2′-(1,2-phenylene)bis(ethene-2,1-diyl)dinaphthalen-2-ol (PBED), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and sodium tetraphenylborate (Na-TPB) in the plasticized poly vinyl chloride membrane matrices has been constructed. In the proposed optode, PBED functions as both ionophore and chromoionophore while DBP has synergistic effect on the complexation of uranyl ion (UO22+) by PBED. Following the optimization of influences of variables, the proposed sensor due to its high stability, reproducibility and relatively long lifetime has good selectivity and sensitivity for uranyl ion over a large number of alkali, alkaline earth, transition, and heavy metal ions. The response of the proposed optode is linear over the concentration range of 3.99 × 10− 6 up to 8.06 × 10− 5 mol L− 1 of UO22+ within a detection limit of 9.99 × 10− 7 mol L− 1 and response time less than 10 min. The proposed optical sensor was applied successfully for the determination and evaluation of UO22+ ion content in water samples.

► A new optical sensor is fabricated for determination of uranyl ion.
► The membrane composition was optimized to yield optimum performance.
► The proposed optical sensor was applied successfully to the determination of UO22+ ion in water samples.