The determinations of metal ions in solutions using a piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC) were performed with electrodeposition 1 until 1980. In this method, after the analyte in a solution was electrodeposited onto the electrode of the quartz crystal for several minutes, the different frequencies of the quartz crystal before and after the deposition were measured under a dried condition. It was an inevitable fact that the precision of the analysis was poor because of the complicated operations, such as the reproducibility of setting the crystal to the oscillator and depositing the metal ions on the electrode. After the quartz crystal immersed in a solution oscillated, 2,3 direct electrodepositing determinations of metal ions in solutions such as copper(II), 4 silver(I), 5,6 lead(II), 7 gold(III) 8 or anions such as cyanide, 2,9 iodide, 10 and bromide 11 were reported. Although the quantitative analysis of the various ions using the quartz crystal became more sensitive and simple, it was still inconvenient to use the electrode of the quartz crystal as a working electrode because of exfoliation and the short life of the electrode. Another determination method of metal ions at the µM level has been developed by a precipitation reaction, [12][13][14] or ion-pair complexation 15 to deposit directly onto the quartz crystal. These methods need a pretreatment to separate the analytes, or to choose a highly selective precipitant. Nomura et al. applied a functional film to the surface of the quartz crystal for a selective concentration and determination of the metal ion simultaneously. Silicon oil was coated onto a quartz crystal for iron(III) and aluminum(III), 16 and poly(vinylpyridine) for copper(II). 17 Chitosan has been widely used for the concentration and separation of metal ions as an absorption reagent, [19][20][21] and a quantitative analysis of metal ions has been developed by coating chitosan onto a quartz crystal as a functional film. 18 Especially, metal-complexed chitosan and a chitosan derivative are useful for a peculiar selective separation of some metal ions.The chitosan film, however, can be used only in a basic solution because of dissolution in acidic. To conquer this weak point, the chitosan was combined chemically onto a quartz crystal plate with silane and glutaraldehyde, and then the frequency behavior and the adsorption characteristics of metal ions in solution were examined for N-(2-pyridylmethyl) chitosan (PMC) 23 modified on the quartz crystal plate. The chitosan derivative (PMC) film selectively adsorbed silver(I) in an ammonium chloride buffer solution containing EDTA, and could be applied to the determination of a trace amount of silver(I).
Experimental
ReagentsAll of the chemicals were bought from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. The reagents for the film, {chitosan1000, (3-aminopropyl)triethoxylsilane (APTES), glutaraldehyde, and 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde} were used without further purification. The standard storage solutions of metal ions were prepared with analytical reagent-grade ch...