title: An electronic tongue designed to detect ammonium nitrate in aqueous solutions.
abstract: An electronic tongue has been developed to monitor the presence of ammonium nitrate in water. It is based on pulse voltammetry and consists of an array of eight working electrodes (Au; Pt; Rh; Ir; Cu; Co; Ag and Ni) encapsulated in a stainless steel cylinder. In a first step the electrochemical response of the different electrodes was studied in the presence of ammonium nitrate in water in order to further design the wave form used in the voltammetric tongue. The response of the electronic tongue was then tested in the presence of a set of 15 common inorganic salts; i.e.; NH₄NO₃; MgSO₄; NH₄Cl; NaCl; Na₂CO₃; (NH₄)₂SO₄; MgCl₂; Na₃PO₄; K₂SO₄; K₂CO₃; CaCl₂; NaH₂PO₄; KCl; NaNO₃; K₂HPO₄. A PCA plot showed a fairly good discrimination between ammonium nitrate and the remaining salts studied. In addition Fuzzy Art map analyses determined that the best classification was obtained using the Pt; Co; Cu and Ni electrodes. Moreover; PLS regression allowed the creation of a model to correlate the voltammetric response of the electrodes with concentrations of ammonium nitrate in the presence of potential interferents such as ammonium chloride and sodium nitrate.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Reconocimiento Molecular y Desarrollo Tecnológico (IDM), Unidad Mixta Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Universidad de Valencia de Valéncia, Camino de Vera s/n, E-46022 Valencia, Spain. rmaez@qim.upv.es.
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gil-Sánchez
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-Máez
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003217:Conductometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012996:Solutions; D013649:Taste; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D012996:Solutions; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; C006568:ammonium nitrate