Flow-through Bulk Optode for Spectrophotometric Determination of Thiocyanate and Its Application to Water and Saliva Analysis

A flow-through spectrophotometric bulk optode for the flow-injectiondetermination of thiocyanate is described. As active constituents, the optode incorporatesthe lipophilized pH indicator 5-octadecanoyloxy-2-(4-nitrophenylazo)phenol andmethyltridodecyl ammonium chloride, dissolved in a plasticized poly(vinyl)chloridemembrane entrapped in a cellulose support. The optode is applied, in conjunction with theflow injection technique, to the determination of thiocyanate at pH 7.5 (TRIS/H2SO4). Thesensor is readily regenerated with a 10-2 M NaOH carrier solution. The analyticalcharacteristics of this optode with respect to thiocyanate response time, dynamicmeasurement range, reproducibility and selectivity are discussed. The proposed FI methodis applied to the determination of thiocyanate in waters from different sources and in humansaliva samples in order to distinguish between smokers and non-smokers.