The inside front cover article in Advanced Materials. Credit: Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202501749

A research team led by Professor Huang Xingjiu at the Hefei Institutes of 鶹Ժical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a highly stable adaptive integrated interface for ion sensing. The was published as an inside front cover article in Advanced Materials.

All-solid-state ion-selective electrode serves as a fundamental component in the ion sensing of intelligent biological and . While the researchers had previously developed several transducer materials with a sandwich-type interface to detect common ions, the performance of such sensors was often limited by interface material and structure.

To overcome these challenges, the team introduced a novel interface using lipophilic molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) regulated by cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA⁺). This structure enables spatiotemporal adaptive integration—assembling single-piece sensing layers atop efficient transduction layers.

Electrochemical simulations confirmed the superior stability of the new interface, demonstrating high charge transfer efficiency and low diffusion current. X-ray Absorption Fine Structure analysis revealed a mixed-capacitance mechanism driven by TFPB⁻ anion adsorption.

When applied to cadmium ion (Cd²⁺) detection, the sensor exhibited excellent stability and maintained high accuracy in real-world testing scenarios, including industrial wastewater environments.

The interface was successfully extended to sensors for detecting a range of ions, including K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Cu²⁺. All showed near-Nernstian responses with significantly enhanced .

This work provides a valuable strategy for designing next-generation high-performance ion sensors.

More information: Xin Cai et al, Generalized Adaptive Cation‐Selective Interfaces Exhibiting High Stability: Integrating Transduction Materials and Uniform Ion‐Selective Membranes via One‐Step Fabrication, Advanced Materials (2025).

Journal information: Advanced Materials