Preparation, characterization of polyacrylonitrile-aluminum hydroxide composite anion exchanger and its analytical application as AsO4-3 selective membrane electrode

Polyacrylonitrile-Aluminium hydroxide [PAN-Al(OH)3] composite anion-exchanger was prepared by solid-gel method. The physicochemical properties of the anion exchanger was determined using Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental analysis (CHNS/O) studies. The analytical applications of the anion exchanger have been explored by making AsO4-3 selective membrane electrode. Among different composition of membrane the composition of 5:1 (PAN:Al(OH)3) showed best results for water content, porosity, thickness and swelling. These studies showed that the ion selective membrane electrode was selective for AsO4-3 having detection limit (1 × 10−7-1 × 10−1 M), response time (40 s) and working pH range (5.0-9.0). The selectivity coefficients values for interfering ions indicate good selectivity for AsO4-3 over interfering anions. The results were also compared by PCA-Arsenomat (Arsenic analyzer).