Nano-level monitoring of ytterbium(III) by a novel ytterbium(III) membrane sensor based on 3-hydroxy-N'-[(2-hydroxyphenyl) methylene] -2-naphthohydrazide

Abstract In this work, a highly sensitive ytterbium(III)-selective solvent polymeric membrane sensor based on 3-hydroxy- N ′-[(2-hydroxyphenyl)methylene]-2-naphthohydrazide (HPMN), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), the plasticizer dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB) anionic site is described. This sensor responds to Yb(III) activity in a linear range from 1.0 × 10 −7 to 1.0 × 10 −2  M, with a slope of 19.2 ± 0.2 mV per decade and a detection limit of 4.0 × 10 −8  M at a pH range of 3.0–8.5. It has a very fast response time of 3+ ions in binary mixtures.