OPTICAL RECOGNITION OF SUBSTRATES IN MEMBRANES

Abstract

Macrocyclic and non-macrocyclic ion-selective carriers containing structural elements that heavily change their optical properties in the uv / VIS region upon ion complexation have been introduced earlier as chromoionophores and fluoroionophores, respectively. Here we present membrane morphologies resulting in a successful design of sensor membranes with an optical transduction of the chemical substrate recognition process. Novel optodes based on membranes containing a neutral carrier for a selected ion, a neutral chromoionophore (e.g. for H30*) as well as lipophilic anionic sites can be made to selectively respond to at least 20 different ions.