Abstract
The construction and performance characteristics of phenytoin sodium selective electrodes are detailed. Two types of electrodes: plastic membrane I and coated wire II, were constructed based on the incorporation of phenytoin sodium with tungstosilicic acid. The influence of membrane composition, kind of plasticizer, pH of the test solution, soaking time and the electrodes' foreign ions were investigated. The electrodes showed a Nernstian response with a mean calibration graph slope of 30.9 +/- 0.1 and 28.9 +/- 0.1 mV decade(-1) at 25 degrees C for electrode I and II respectively, over a phenytoin sodium concentration range of 5x10(-3)-5x10(-6) M and 1x10(-3)-1x10(-6) M with a detection limit 1.3x10(-6) M and 2.5x10(-7) M for electrode I and II, respectively. The electrodes gave average selective precision and were usable within the pH range 6-10. Interference studies from common cations, alkaloids, sugars, amino acids and drug excipients are reported. The results obtained by the proposed electrodes were also applied successfully for the determination of the drug in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids.