Application of Ag–Ge–Se based chalcogenide glasses on ion-selective electrodes

Chalcogenide glasses (ChG) have proven to be promissory materials for their application as sensitive membranes in ion-selective electrodes (ISE’s), which are used in electrochemical sensors in order to detect heavy metal ions in solutions. AgGeSe system is not an exception. ChG system Agx(Ge0.25Se0.75)100−x with x between 10 and 25 at.% was investigated as membrane material in ion-selective electrodes. This system has shown sensitivity to the presence of Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions. The introduction of Cu or Fe to the ChG composition was made in order to explore the role of metal addition on selectivity towards Cu2+ or Fe3+ ions. The analytical properties such as reproducibility, linear range, sensitivity, detection limit and working pH range were studied and its dependence on the ChG composition was analyzed for the three systems. The cross-selectivity of some interfering ions was investigated.