An effective nanostructured assembly for ion-selective electrodes. An ionophore covalently linked to carbon nanotubes for Pb2+ determination.

We report on the synthesis of a new hybrid material, i.e. benzo-18-crown-6 covalently linked to multi-wall carbon nanotubes, and its use in solid-state ion-selective electrodes both as a receptor and an ion-to-electron transducer. This new concept leads to potentiometric sensors with extremely high selectivity.