Influence of Ionic Liquids on the Selectivity of Ion Exchange-Based Polymer Membrane Sensing Layers

The applicability of ion exchange membranes is mainly defined by their permselectivity towards specific ions. For instance, the needed selectivity can be sought by modifying some of the components required for the preparation of such membranes. In this study, a new class of materials –trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium based ionic liquids (ILs) were used to modify the properties of ion exchange membranes. We determined selectivity coefficients for iodide as model ion utilizing six phosphonium-based ILs and compared the selectivity with two classical plasticizers. The dielectric properties of membranes plasticized with ionic liquids and their response characteristics towards ten different anions were investigated using potentiometric and impedance measurements. In this large set of data, deviations of obtained selectivity coefficients from the well-established Hofmeister series were observed on many occasions thus indicating a multitude of applications for these ion-exchanging systems.