Enhancing the Oil-Fouling Resistance of Polymeric Membrane Ion-Selective Electrodes by Surface Modification of a Zwitterionic Polymer-Based Oleophobic Self-Cleaning Coating

Abstract

Due to the frequent oil spill accidents and pollution of industrial oily wastewater, oil fouling has become a great challenge to polymeric membrane ionselective electrodes (ISEs) for applications in oil-contaminated areas. Herein, a simple approach is proposed to enhance the oil-fouling resistance of polymeric membrane ISEs by surface modification of a zwitterionic polymer-based underwater oleophobic coating. As a proof-of-concept, a classical poly(vinyl chloride) membrane-based calcium ion-selective electrode (Ca 2+ -ISE) is chosen as a model sensor. The zwitterionic polymer-based coating can be readily modified on the sensor's surface by immersion of the electrode into a mixture solution of dopamine and a zwitterionic acrylate monomer (i.e., sulfobetaine methacrylate, SBMA). The formed poly(SBMA) (PSBMA) coating alters the oleophilic membrane surface to an oleophobic one, which endows the surface with excellent self-cleaning properties without loss of the sensor's analytical performance. Compared to the pristine Ca 2+ -ISE, the PSBMA-modified Ca 2+ -ISE exhibits an improved analytical stability when exposed to oil-containing wastewater. The proposed approach can be explored to enhance the oil-fouling resistance of other polymeric membrane-based electrochemical sensors for use in the oil-polluted environment.

Highly Conformal Polymers for Ambulatory Electrophysiological Sensing

“…However, the surface of on-skin electrodes is easily contaminated by the epidermal surface lipids during long-term electrophysiological detecting, which frequently causes high skin-electrode impedance and poor signal quality. Inspired by the underwater antifouling and oil-cleaning performance of the zwitterionic polymer, [170][171][172] Chen's group fabricated the PMPC-Au/PDMS on-skin electrode with anti-epidermal-surface-lipid function. [173] Figure 11a illustrated the design strategy of the on-skin electrode.…”

Anti-fouling TiO2-Coated Polymeric Membrane Ion-Selective Electrodes with Photocatalytic Self-Cleaning Properties

“…Such coatings can directly kill the adsorbed biological cells, thus inhibiting the formation of biofilms and reducing the biofouling of the electrodes in complex samples. With regard to anti-organic fouling strategies, the zwitterionic polymer [poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate)] 27 and cellulose dialysis membrane 28 have been used to improve the organic-fouling resistance of ISEs through surface modification. These strategies have made great contributions toward enhancing the anti-fouling abilities of the ISE membranes.…”

Ionophore-based ion-selective electrodes: signal transduction and amplification from potentiometry

“…ISEs are advantageous due to their versatility, low cost and power consumption, and high selectivity due to a variety of ionophores. 1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The potentiometric sensor response has been theoretically well described by the phase-boundary potential model. 15 The Nikolsky-Eisenman formula and Bakker's modification can be used to account for interfering ions.…”