Influence of poly(3-octylthiophene) on the water transport through methacrylic-acrylic based polymer membranes

Fredrik Sundfors, Lajos Höfler, Róbert E. Gyurcsányi, Tom Lindfors

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    31 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Accumulation of water in ion-selective membranes, can lead to inconsistent potentiometric responses with solid-contact ion-selective electrode (SC-ISE) formats, and hence it is essential to restrain their water uptake. We have used FTIR-ATR spectroscopy to study how the water uptake is influenced by the intermixing of a poly(3-octylthiophene) (POT) SC and a poly(methyl methacrylate):poly(n-decyl methacrylate) (PMMA:PDMA) based polymeric membrane matrix, the only SC-ISE system for which direct evidence was provided on the aqueous layer elimination. Numerical simulations of the FTIR-ATR spectra of 1 or 5 wt% POT containing PMMA:PDMA membranes showed that the addition of 5 wt% POT to the membrane lowered the equilibrium water uptake, whereas the diffusion coefficients of water in the membrane were found to be less affected. Consequently, POT is beneficial for preventing the formation of detrimental water layers in the SC-ISE structure.
    Original languageUndefined/Unknown
    Pages (from-to)1769–1772
    Number of pages4
    JournalElectroanalysis
    Volume23
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Keywords

    • Acrylate polymer
    • Conducting polymer
    • FTIR-ATR spectroscopy
    • Ion-selective membranes
    • Water transport

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