%0 Journal Article
%T Sol-Gel Thin Films Immobilized with Bromocresol Purple pH-Sensitive Indicator in Presence of Surfactants
%A Nizam M. El-Ashgar
%A Ahmed I. El-Basioni
%A Issa M. El-Nahhal
%A Shehata M. Zourob
%A Taher M. El-Agez
%A Sofyan A. Taya
%J ISRN Analytical Chemistry
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/604389
%X Preparation of transparent sol-gel thin film immobilized with bromocresol purple (BCP) pH-sensitive indicator was made via the acid catalyzed sol-gel reaction of tetraethylorthosilicate and the bromocresol purple indicator (BCP). Different surfactants include cationic cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and nonionic Triton X-100 (TX-100) were used to improve the mesostructure of the host material and to increase its porosity. The color change behavior of the immobilized bromocresol purple indicator affected significantly in presence of SDS comparing with its free counterpart in aqueous solution. In presence of CTAB and Triton-X 100, the immobilized bromocresol purple indicator shows similar behavior as its free counterpart in aqueous solution. The BCP retains its structure during the sol-gel reactions in terms of response to pH. Different parameters including concentration of indicator and surfactant, temperature, number of layers, response time, life time, and the number of measurements were investigated. The pKa values of the different prepared BCP immobilized thin films were determined. The BCP thin film sensor showed stability, repeatability, reproducibility, fast response, and long life time behavior. The polarized light microscopy indicated that the bromocresol purple indicator molecules are distributed uniformly within the host silica network. 1. Introduction Preparation of sol-gel matrices doped with some chemically and biologically active molecules is a promise route to chemical solid-state sensors [1每4]. The sol-gel technique is one of the most promising tools in material science. The term sol-gel refers to a chemical process where metallic or semimetallic alkoxide precursors or their derivatives form composites at moderate temperatures through a chemical reaction that involves hydrolysis followed by polycondensation [2]. Hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethoxysilane in presence of water, organic solvent, and an acid/base catalyst result in the formation of the 每Si每O每Si每 three-dimensional siloxane network [3每5]. The resulting matrix has high surface area, porosity, inertness, and stability to chemical and physical agents, and optical clarity in the visible and UV ranges [6每8]. Sol-gel matrices appear as a very important technique for immobilization, entrapment, encapsulation for large variety of materials such as organic, inorganic, and biomolecules [9, 10]. The sol-gel materials are ideal candidates as hosts for the analytical reagents because they are synthesized at low concentrations at the
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.analytical.chemistry/2012/604389/