Metal Oxides and Ion-Exchanging Surfaces as pH Sensors in Liquids: State-of-the-Art and Outlook

Novel applications of online pH determinations at temperatures from -35 degrees C to 130 degrees C in technical and biological media, which are all but ideal aqueous solutions, require new approaches to pH monitoring. The glass electrode, introduced nearly hundred years ago, and chemical sensors based on field effect transistors (ISFET) show specific drawbacks with respect to handling and long-time stability. Proton sensitive metal oxides seem to be a promising and alternative to the state-of-the-art measuring methods, and might overcome some problems of classical hydrogen electrodes and reference electrodes.