Novel Potentiometric Screen-printed Carbon Electrodes for Bisphenol S Detection in Commercial Plastic Samples

Abstract

Novel miniaturized poly(vinyl chloride) matrix membrane sensors based on screen-printed carbon electrodes and responsive to bisphenol S (BPS) were formulated. Polymeric membranes are based on an ion-pair complex of BPS anion with an Aliquat 336S counter cation. A solid conductive contact of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was used on screen-printed carbon platforms. After drop-casting and drying of the MWCNTs on a carbonaceous substrate, it was coated with a layer of polymeric poly(vinyl chloride) PVC sensing membrane containing the recognition complex. Prepared electrodes revealed a near-Nernstian response towards BPS with a -28.2 ± 0.8 mV/decade anionic slope, 0.02 μg/mL detection limit and 2.5 × 10^-7 - 1.0 × 10^-3 M concentration range (r² = -0.9994). Signals were recorded in a 30 mM HCO₃^-/CO₃^2- buffer, pH 10, with fast response times <10 s. A suggested sensing system was effectively applied in the quantitative determination of diminished BPS levels released from plastic bottle samples, and obtained results were statistically assessed against a chromatographic HPLC independent reference method.

Keywords: Bisphenol S (BPS); multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs); potentiometric sensors; screen printed carbon electrode; solid-contact sensors.