Study and Comparison Between Two Gold Electrodes Functionalized with Two Calix [8] Arenes for the Detection of Cadmium in Water

In our work, we compared the performance of two calix [8] arenes, p-tert-butyl-calix [8] arenetétracétone and p-tert-butyl-calix [8] arene-tetraester for cadmium detection in an aqueous medium. Both sensors were characterized by two electrochemically methods, impedance spectroscopy to evaluate the behavior of the sensitive membrane relative to the cation to be detected and cyclic voltammetry to understand the phenomena occurring at the solid-liquid interfaces. We completed our study by two physico-chemical methods. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Visible spectroscopy to understand the process of complexation between ionophores and the cations detected. The results of analyzes by UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy showed the formation of a complex between the ligand and cadmium ions. The impedance measurements showed an increase in sensor response proportionally with the increase of the concentration of the metal cation indicating sensitivity of the devices with a detection limit of 10-8M. P-tert-butyl-calix [8] areneligand tetraester is most advantageous from the point of view sensitivity to cadmium ions. Copyright © 2014 IFSA Publishing, S. L.