Chemical Sensors and Computer-Aided Analytical Chemistry

Abstract

A simplified thermodynamic model of potentiometric and optical ion sensor membranes allows to improve their properties and the measurement of complex formation constants in membrane phases. The simultaneous optical and potentiometric investigation of sensing films revealed diffusion-related long-term drifts. The lower detection limit of ion-selective electrodes was shifted from the micromolar to the picomolar range, thus allowing many new applications especially in environmental and biological trace metal analysis. Also, various prediction methods of spectroscopic and other physical data from chemical structures have been created which allow a fast compatibility check between structures and molecular spectra. Furthermore, programs are being developed for automatic spectra interpretation.