Iodide Ion Sensor for Indirect Determination of As (III) in Water

Abstract

A simple, low cost and portable iodide sensor for the indirect determination of As(III) has been developed from the polycrystalline material obtained by co-precipitation of silver sulphide and silver iodide from aqueous solution. The Ag2S-AgI sensor was found to behave well up to the iodide concentration of 1×10-6 M with a Nernstian slope 57.5 mV per decade change in concentration. The selectivity coefficient of sensor containing iodide ion in the presence of Br- and Cl- ions was found to be 1.77 × 10-2 and 7.94 × 10-3, respectively indicating that these ions do not interfere in the response of iodide sensor to iodide ion. The electrode was successfully used for the direct determination of iodide and indirect determination of As(III) by titrating with cerric ammonium sulphate at pH 2. The results obtained from this method are comparable to the existing methods for the estimation of As(III).