An ion selective field effect transistor (ISFET) electrode was evaluated for measuring pH and acid number (AN) of fuel ethanol and compared to two glass electrodes with different reference filling solutions: KCl aqueous solution (glass-KCl electrode) and LiCl ethanolic solution (glass-LiCl electrode). pH was determined at different measurement times and AN was determined using automatic potentiometric titration. For pH, the glass-KCl electrode showed the best precision and stability, with an average repeatability about four times better when compared to the ISFET electrode for the measurement time of 30 s (as indicated in the ASTM D6423 standard). For AN, the glass-KCl and glass-LiCl electrodes showed similar repeatabilities, which were about three times better than that of the ISFET electrode. In addition, the results from a recovery study demonstrated better accuracy of the glass-LiCl electrode, with a recovery value of 100.1%.
ISFET electrode; glass electrode; fuel ethanol; acid number; pH
