Development of a facile aerogel‐based ion‐selective electrode using cellulose and carbon nanotubes as transducer materials for potentiometric application

Abstract

Facile, lightweight, and sustainable aerogels have been a growing interest in their applications as support matrixes in the current environmental and energy challenges. In this study, a cellulose aerogel (CA) is fabricated using a homogeneous dispersion of cellulose fibers in an alkali‐urea aqueous solution and a carbon nanotube ink (CNT‐ink) to increase its electrical and conductive behavior in a potentiometric analysis. The physicochemical and morphological properties of the resultant composite aerogels (CA, CA1, and CA2) are investigated by thermal, water resistance, mechanical, FTIR, and SEM analysis. The prepared material exhibits a structured solid network that is visualized through SEM in which fibers are functionalized with CNTs. The results from compressive tests reveal that CA2 has excellent mechanical properties. A saturated CA with CNT‐ink can turn on a white LED and potentiometric measurements by preparing an aerogel‐based ion‐selective electrode (CA2 ‐ ISE) with a potassium ion‐selective membrane (K+ − ISM) reveal good sensitivity at room temperature for the detection in a specific electrolyte solution.

Recent advances in nanomaterial-based solid-contact ion-selective electrodes

“…Many studies reported that CNTs were promising components in nanocomposites for enhancing the analytical performance of the ISEs due to their high aspect ratios and high functionalization ability. 174,180–182 Recently, Hernández-Varela et al 181 developed an ISE based on cellulose/MWCNTs as the transducer for detecting K + . The homogeneous dispersion of cellulose aerogel (CA) and CNT ink increased the electrical and conductive behaviour of the ISE, and the resulting solid network exhibited good mechanical properties.…”

Ion-Selective Electrodes with Solid Contact Based on Composite Materials: A Review

“…Application as solid contact composite aerogel fabricated of cellulose fibers and carbon nanotubes in a homogeneous dispersion process was described in article [177]. The authors investigated the properties of the resulting composites using a number of analytical methods, including FTIR, SEM and thermal analysis.…”