Resumen de Making and Using a Sensing Polymeric Material for Cu2+: An Introduction to Polymers and Chemical Sensing
Jean R. Paddock, Anne T. Maghasi, William R. Heineman, Carl J. Seliskar
In this experiment, students will be introduced to concepts of polymer chemistry, chemical sensors, metal chelates, spectroscopy, and quantitative analytical methods. A polymer network is generated by students and consists of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) blended with the polyelectrolyte poly(acrylic acid), which is then doped with the spectroscopically-active chelating agent PAN, 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-napthol. All components of this hydrogel serve as an ion-exchange medium trapping cations that, when exposed to solutions of 2+ metals, can act as a material in a chemical sensor. The doped polymer network is exposed to various concentrations of Cu2+ for 1 hour. The formation of a PAN–Cu complex (λmax = 550 nm) is monitored spectroscopically. A calibration curve for the complex is generated and can be used to identify Cu2+ samples of unknown concentration.
