A Novel Thin-Film Copper Array Based on an Organic/Inorganic Sensor Hybrid: Microfabrication, Potentiometric Characterization, and Flow-Injection Analysis Application

A first step towards the microfabrication of a thin-film array based on an organic/inorganic sensor hybrid has been realized. The inorganic microsensor part incorporates a sensor membrane based on a chalcogenide glass material (Cu-Ag-As-Se) prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD) combined with an PVC organic membrane-based organic microsensor part that includes an o-xylyene bis(N,N-diisobutyl-dithiocarbamate) ionophore. Both types of materials have been electrochemically evaluated as sensing materials for copper(H) ions. The integrated hybrid sensor array based on these sensing materials provides a linear Nernstian response covering the range 1 x 10(-6) -1 x 10(-1) mol L-1 of copper(II) ion concentration with a fast. reliable and reproducible response. The merit offered by the new type of thin-film hybrid array includes the high selectivity feature of the organic membrane-based thin-film microsensor, part in addition to the high stability of the inorganic thin-film microsensor part. Moreover, the thin-film sensor hybrid has been successfully applied in flow-injection analysis (FIA) for the determination of copper(II) ions using a miniaturized home-made flow-through cell. Realization of the organic/inorganic thin-film sensor hybrid array facilitates the development of a promising sophisticated electronic tongue for recognition and classification of various liquid media.