Ion-Selective Electrode for the Determination of Iron(III) in Vitamin Formulations

A coated graphite-epoxy ion-selective electrode for iron(III), based on the ion-pair formed between [Fe(citrate)2]3- and the tricaprylylmethylammonium cation (Aliquat 336) in a poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) matrix has been constructed. A thin membrane film of this ion-pair, dibutylphthalate (DBPh) in PVC was deposited directly onto a Perspex® tube, which contained a graphite-epoxy conductor substrate. The coating solution was prepared by dissolving 30% (w/w) of PVC in 10 mL of tetrahydrofuran following addition of 65% (w/w) DBPh and 5% (w/w) of the ionic pair. The effect of pH, citrate concentration and some cations on the electrode response has been investigated. The E(mV) vs. log [Fe(citrate)2]3- electrode response was linear for iron(III) concentration from 1.0 x 10-3 mol/L to 1.0 x 10-1 mol/L in 1.0 mol/L citrate medium, with a slope of 19.3 ± 0.5 mV/decade and a useful lifetime of at least six months (more than 800 determinations for each polymeric membrane used). The detection limit was 7.5 x 10-4 mol/L and the relative standard deviation was less than 3% for a solution containing 5.0 x 10-3 mol/L of iron(III) (n = 10). The application of this electrode for iron(III) determination in samples of vitamin formulations is described. The results obtained with this procedure are in close agreement with those obtained using AA spectrophotometry (r = 0.9999)