Development of Conductometric Sensor Based on 25,27-Di-(5-thio-octyloxy)calix[4]arene-crown-6 for Determination of Ammonium

The conductometric sensor based on 25,27-di-(5-thio-octyloxy)calix[4]arene-crown-6 was developed for the quantitative analysis of ammonium. The calixarene was immobilized on the surface of the planar interdigitated electrodes by attachment of its dialkyl sulfide groups to the surface of the gold electrodes. The intrinsic ability of the calixarene to capture ammonium was studied in the conductometric measuring mode and by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The developed sensor showed high selectivity to ammonium in the presence of mono-, di-, and trivalent cations. Selective and highly sensitive detection of ammonium resulted from the complexation between the ammonium ions and a crown-ether fragment of the upper rim of the 25,27-di-(5-thio-octyloxy)calix[4]arene-crown-6 macrocycle. The developed sensor had high signal repeatability. Its sensitivity was found to be satisfactory for the forthcoming sensor application in the water-sample analysis; the linear range was 0.01–1.5 mM and limit of detection 10 μM. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11671-016-1317-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.