Determination of Thallium at A Silver‐Gold Alloy Electrode by Voltammetric Methods in Plant Material and Bottom Sediment Containing Cd and Pb

The applicability of the subtractive anodic stripping voltammetry (SASV) using the square‐wave mode at the silver‐gold alloy electrode has been studied for thallium determination in the presence of large amount of lead and cadmium in natural samples. 10 mmol L^?1 perchloric acid was found as the most suitable supporting electrolyte for determination in synthetic solutions. The thallium peak was separated about 200 mV from Cd+Pb peak. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid addition was necessary to determine thallium at the silver‐gold alloy electrode in digested plant and sediment. The determination limit was equal to 1.4 μg L^?1. The method was validated by the inter‐method comparison (ICP‐MS).     

Determination of nanomolar concentrations of lead and cadmium by anodic-stripping voltammetry at the silver electrode

Lead and cadmium have been determined by subtractive anodic-stripping voltammetry (SASV) in the square-wave mode at a silver electrode without removal of oxygen. The sensitivities and detection limits for the two metals differ considerably. Detection limits of 0.05 nM for lead and 1 nM for cadmium have been achieved following 90 s electrodeposition. The repeatability of consecutive SASV runs is good (for lead 0.5% at 20 nM for 30 s electrolysis, 5% at 0.3 nM for 60 s electrolysis; for cadmium 2.5% at 20 nM for 30 s electrolysis, 5% at 5 nM for 60 s). Hundreds of runs can be carried out without any pretreatment of the electrode. The high stability is attributed to renewal of the electrode surface that takes place during the electrodeposition step in a two-electrode cell: the silver counter/quasi-reference electrode generates silver ions that codeposit with lead and cadmium at the Ag-RDE, thus ensuring a continuity of the latter. Underpotential deposition (UPD) plays a central role in anodic-stripping voltammetry (ASV). During the deposition step, the adatom coverage of trace elements is in the range of 0.01-1% and no bulk deposition is invoked for metals that exhibit UPD. The UPD properties and, as a result, the ASV signals are strongly affected by the type and concentration of the supporting electrolyte. The effects of Cl⁻, Br⁻, SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ are shown. The analysis of lead and cadmium in natural waters has been performed. Surfactants distort the SASV signal. In order to ensure surfactant-free solutions, the samples were pretreated by wet ashing.     

Characteristics of subtractive anodic stripping voltammetry of Pb and Cd at silver and gold electrodes

Silver and gold electrodes are useful for the quantitative determination of lead and cadmium with subtractive anodic stripping voltammetry (SASV). The use of SASV is essential for achieving good separation between the two peaks, to eliminate the interference of nitrates when cadmium is present and to allow analysis at very low concentrations without the removal of oxygen. The deposition and dissolution of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ proceed at underpotential (UPD) on both electrodes. The UPD properties of the deposits are the main factor determining the analytical characteristics of the ASV method and are strongly affected by the type and concentration of the electrolyte. The effects of anions (Cl⁻, Br⁻, SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻) and acids (HNO₃, HClO₄, H₂SO₄, HCl) are shown. The two electrodes complement each other and, in addition, enable the qualitative identification of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺, since the peaks appear in opposite order on the two electrodes. Analysis of mixtures of the two analytes is restricted on gold but not on silver. At gold the two peaks overlap: (i) at concentrations of cadmium higher than 250 nM at deposition times greater than 30 s, (ii) in the presence of copper at concentrations higher than 1 μM, and (iii) in the presence of Triton X-100 at concentrations above 10 mg/l. The repeatability at 10 nM analyte is better than 2.5%. The detection limits for Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ at 120 s deposition time and 3500 rpm rotation rate are: dl_Pb/Ag=0.04 nM; dl_Cd/Ag=0.7 nM; dl_Pb/Au=0.1 nM; dl_Cd/Au=0.3 nM. The analysis of lead and cadmium in natural waters has been performed.     

Study of Bare and Mercury‐Coated Vibrated Carbon,Gold and Silver Microwire Electrodes for the Determination of Lead and Cadmium in Seawater by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

Carbon, gold and silver microwires are revisited under vibrated conditions for detection of trace lead and cadmium in seawater. The Pb and Cd peaks fully overlapped on the bare gold and carbon electrodes and partially on the silver electrode. The sensitivity of all three was insufficient for detection in uncontaminated waters. Peak separation was obtained after coating with mercury (Hg). Only the Hg‐coated silver electrode is suitable when preplated. Limits of detection for Pb using the Hg/C and Hg/Ag electrodes (20–40 pM), and Cd (70 pM), are sufficiently low for Pb and Cd detection in seawater.     

Electrochemical properties of silver–copper alloy microelectrodes for use in voltammetric field apparatus

Microelectrodes of silver–copper alloys have been evaluated for use in voltammetric analyses. Increased overpotential towards the hydrogen overvoltage reaction (HER) was found as a function of increased copper content in the silver. A study of oxidizing products by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in NaOH solution showed ten anodic and eight cathodic peaks which are described in the present paper. The behaviour of these alloy electrodes is somewhere between pure silver and pure copper electrodes. Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) was used to measure zinc, cadmium and lead in ultrapure water only (18 MΩcm), and good linearity was found for all metals (r ²=0.998) in the range of 0.5 to 5 ppb with a 600- to 1,200-s plating time. It was additionally found that cadmium and lead were better separated on the alloy electrodes compared to pure silver electrodes. Measurements of nickel were carried out on alloy electrodes by use of adsorptive differential pulse cathodic stripping voltammetry (Ad-DPCSV), and good linearity (r ²=1.000) was found in the range from 0.5 to 5 ppb with an adsorption time of 120 s. The alloy electrodes were also found to be sensitive to nitrate, and good linearity (r ²=0.997) was found in the range from 1 mg L⁻¹ to 100 mg L⁻¹ using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) scanning from −450 mV to −1,500 mV. Addition of nitrate in ultrapure water afforded two different peaks related to the successive reductions of nitrate and nitrite. In ammonium buffer solution (pH 8.6) only one peak resulting from reduction of nitrate was observed. Furthermore, the use of alloy electrodes containing 17% Cu was tested in real samples, by installing it in a voltammetric system for monitoring of zinc and lead in a polluted river, the river Deûle, near the town of Douai in northern France. Results were found to be in agreement with parallel measurements carried out by ICP-MS.     

Determination of Lead and Cadmium at Silver Electrode by Subtractive Anodic Stripping Voltammetry in Plant Materials Containing Tl

Lead and cadmium have been determined by the subtractive anodic stripping voltammetry using the square‐wave mode at a silver electrode without removal of oxygen. The samples containing large amount of thallium were collected from a highly contaminated region. The presence of thallium strongly affects the peak shape of Cd. The plant material digestion was performed with HNO₃/HClO₄ mixture using pressurised microwave decomposition. The proposed method used for the lead determination was validated by the inter‐method comparison (ICP‐MS). The cadmium determination was validated using certified reference material. The results obtained, supported by statistical tests, demonstrated the usefulness of the method for the lead determination in samples containing large amounts of Cd and Tl. It is important to note that Cd can only be quantified when the thallium concentration is much lower than that of cadmium.     

Silver based mercury film electrode: Part II. The influence of aging of electrode on the electrode processes of various metal ions

The cyclic voltammetric behaviour of 8 metal ions at solid silver amalgam electrodes prepared by aging of a thin silver based mercury film electrode (SBMFE) and by deposition of silver and mercury on platinum were investigated. It was established that such electrodes behave in relation to some metals (Pb, Bi, Sn) similarly as silver electrodes i.e. the cyclic curves obtained with these electrodes at concentration 10^?3M range show a prepeak-postpeak system corresponding to deposition and dissolution of the monolayer of deposit. On the other hand under the same conditions no prepeaks were observed for cadmium, zinc and thallium. In all cases investigated the heights of anodic stripping peaks were lower on curves obtained with aged SBMFE than on those obtained with fresh SBMFE having a mercury layer 1 μm thick.     

Stripping Voltammetry with Bismuth Modified Graphite‐Epoxy Composite Electrodes

The attractive performance of graphite‐epoxy composite electrodes (GECE) surface‐modified with a bismuth film (Bi‐GECE) for simultaneous and separate stripping determination of trace amounts of heavy metals (lead, cadmium and zinc) is described. Several key parameters have been optimized. Bi‐GECEi electrode shows superior accumulation properties when compared to bare GECE or even to Hg‐GECE. Bi‐GECE exhibits well‐defined, undistorted, reproducible and sharp stripping signals with RSD of 2.99%, 1.56% and 2.19% for lead, cadmium and zinc respectively. Detection limits of 23.1, 2.2 and 600 μg/L for lead, cadmium and zinc were obtained. Sharp peaks with high resolution (of neighboring signals) that permit convenient multi‐elemental measurements resulted. The applicability of the electrodes to the real samples (tap water and soil sample) was also tested and promising results with good recoveries were obtained.     

Gold and Silver Micro‐Wire Electrodes for Trace Analysis of Metals

Micro‐wire electrodes were made from gold and silver wires (diameter: 25 μm; length: 3–21 mm) and sealed in a polyethylene holder; micro‐disk electrodes were made from the same wires and polished. The gold electrodes were electrochemically coated with mercury before use; the silver wires were used without coating. Comparative measurements demonstrated that the micro‐wire electrodes had much higher sensitivity, and a much (10–100×) lower limit of detection, than micro‐disk electrodes, and the sensitivity increased linearly with the area and length of the electrodes. Using a gold micro‐wire electrode of 21 mm and a deposition time of 300 s the limit of detection was 0.07 nM Pb in seawater of natural pH, compared to a limit of detection of 10 nM Pb (more than 100×greater) using a gold micro‐disk electrode of the same diameter. Using the silver micro‐wire electrode the limit of detection of lead was improved by a factor of 10 to 0.2 nM in acidified seawater. It is expected that the improved sensitivity of micro‐wire electrodes will lead to successful in situ detection of metals in natural waters.     

利用碘离子增感效应和金电极导数阳极溶出法研究铜丶铅和镉的同时测定

A method of simultaneous determination of copper (II), lead (II) and cadmium (II) in sulphuric acid-iocide ion medium was established by derivative anodic stripping voltammetry (DASV) on the gold electrode. The peak theights of lead and cadmium were increased by enhancement effect of iodide ion and the peaks of bismuth and copper were well formed and completely resolved on gold electrode in the presence of iodide ion, therefore peak of copper is not affected by bismuth. The sensitivities for copper, lead and cadmium were very high and their peak potentials in the stripping voltammogram were +0.25, -0.2 and -0.27 volt, respectively. The dependence of peak height of these elemets on their concentrations was linear. The detection limits for copper, lead and cadmium were 0.2 0.2 and 0.05 ppb, respectively. We have further studied the electrode process by means of triangle cyclic voltammetry and proved that he electrode reaction of copper is reversible, and that the reversibility of electrode reactions of lead and cadmium is not good.     

Silver Doped Poly(L‐valine) Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode for the Simultaneous Determination of Uric Acid,Ascorbic Acid and Dopamine

In this paper, a silver doped poly(L ‐valine) (Ag‐PLV) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated through electrochemical immobilization and was used to electrochemically detect uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) by linear sweep voltammetry. In pH 4.0 PBS, at a scan rate of 100 mV/s, the modified electrode gave three separated oxidation peaks at 591 mV, 399 mV and 161 mV for UA, DA and AA, respectively. The peak potential differences were 238 mV and 192 mV. The electrochemical behaviors of them at the modified electrode were explored in detail with cyclic voltammetry. Under the optimum conditions, the linear ranges were 3.0×10^?7 to 1.0×10^?5 M for UA, 5.0×10^?7 to 1.0×10^?5 M for DA and 1.0×10^?5 to 1.0×10^?3 M for AA, respectively. The method was successfully applied for simultaneous determination of UA, DA and AA in human urine samples.     

Ion-selective chalcogenide electrodes for a number of cations

Ion-selective chalcogenide disc electrodes have been developed which are responsive to cations such as silver, lead, chromium(III), nickel, cobalt(II), cadmium, zinc, copper(II) and manganese(II) ions. Each was prepared by using the corresponding metal chalcogenide with silver sulphide. An electrode was assembled with both a compacted and a sintered disc. The sintered electrodes were more sensitive and stable than the compacted ones. Response to silver ion was 59.5 mV pAg , to lead, nickel, cadmium, zinc and copper(II) 29.5 mV pM and to chromium(III) 20 mV pM . Cobalt(II) and manganese(II) electrodes had a non-Nernstian response of 25 mV pM . Both selenides and tellurides can be used for potentiometric determination, but the manganese(II) electrode serves as an analytical tool only when the disc consists of manganese(II) telluride and silver sulphide.     

Voltammetry of lead cations on a new type of silver composite electrode in the presence of other cations

A new type of silver composite electrode was examined, prepared from silver, graphite powder, and methacrylate resin. The effects of the presence of various cations (cadmium, copper, bismuth, thallium), anions (chlorides), surface-active substances (Triton X-100), and oxygen on the anodic-stripping voltammetric determination of lead were studied. It was found that the effect of underpotential deposition at the composite electrode differs from that produced at a metallic silver electrode, mainly at low concentrations of the deposited metal. The use of this type of silver composite electrode in differential pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry enables direct determination of lead in natural water samples without elimination of surface-active substances (LOD about 3 g L^–1).     

银掺杂聚L-甲硫氨酸修饰电极同时测定对苯二酚和邻苯二酚

用循环伏安法制备了银掺杂聚L-甲硫氨酸修饰玻碳电极,研究了对苯二酚和邻苯二酚在该修饰电极上的电化学行为,建立了同时测定对苯二酚和邻苯二酚的新方法.研究发现,在pH=5.0的磷酸盐缓冲溶液中,扫速为100 mV/s时,对苯二酚和邻苯二酚在银掺杂聚L-甲硫氨酸修饰玻碳电极上均出现1对氧化还原峰,峰电位分别为:Epa=0.228 V、Epc =0.162 V和Epa=0.347 V、Epc =0.287 V,二者的氧化峰电位差达119 mV,还原峰差达125 mV.在最佳的条件下,用差分脉冲伏安法同时测定邻苯二酚和对苯二酚的线性范围为3.00 ×10-6～1.00 ×10-4mol/L,检出限为8.0×10-7 mol/L(对苯二酚)和5.0×10-7 mol/L(邻苯二酚).此法用于废水样中对苯二酚和邻苯二酚的测定,获得满意结果.     

Simultaneous and Selective Detection of Environment Hazardous Metals in Water Samples by Using Flower and Christmas Tree Like Cerium Hexacyanoferrate Modified Electrodes

We report facile, template‐free, surfactant‐less flower and Christmas tree‐like cerium hexacyanoferrate (CeHCF) modified electrodes for simultaneous measurement of environmentally hazardous metals. The hierarchical growth of CeHCF on electrode surface was controlled by electrodeposition time at constant potential. This CeHCF modified electrode exhibits a prominent electrocatalytic activity towards detection of heavy metal ions such as cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg). The peaks are separated well at CeHCF modified electrode. Well separated peaks for the detection of these heavy metals in lake and tap water samples indicating CeHCF modified electrode as successful electrode for the reported sensor.     

Anodic Stripping Voltammetry with Galinstan as Working Electrode

The liquid alloy galinstan is used to determine low concentrations in microgram per liter level of trace metals like copper, cadmium, lead, bismuth, antimony and thallium using anodic stripping voltammetry. Like the conventionally applied HMDE, the hanging galinstan drop electrode (HGDE) is able to accumulate the investigated metal ions at the electrode surface. Hence, simultaneous determination of Pb and Cd is possible. Both, DPASV and SWASV were used as measuring methods. The influence of different parameters like accumulation potential and time and the frequency in SWASV were studied. By the use of acetic buffer solutions, the potential window reaches from ?900 mV to 150 mV. The limit of detection (LOD) varies from 6 ppm (worst case, Sb³⁺) to 2 ppb (best case, Pb²⁺). Therefore, the use of galinstan in the form of the HGDE is possible as a “mercury‐free” and environmentally friendly electrode in stripping analysis.     

A Robust Electrochemical Sensor Based on Butterfly-shaped Silver Nanostructure for Concurrent Quantification of Heavy Metals in Water Samples

Heavy metals in drinking water have become a severe threat to human health. Detection of heavy metals has been achieved by electrochemical sensors that are modified with complex nanocomposites; however, reproducibility of these sensors is still a big challenge when applied in commercial settings. Here, a simple, very robust, and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on a screen-printed carbon electrode modified with butterfly-shaped silver nanostructure (AgNS/SPCE) has been developed for the concurrent determination of cadmium (II), lead (II), copper (II), and mercury (II) in water samples. The electrochemical behavior of the modified electrodes was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The AgNS/SPCE showed distinct peak potentials and a significant increase in the peak currents for all heavy metals, attributed to the high electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of the synthesized butterfly-shaped AgNS. Moreover, the excellent stability and sensitivity towards simultaneous quantification of heavy metals have been obtained with detection limits of 0.4 ppb, 2.5 ppb, 7.3 ppb, and 0.7 ppb for Cd (II), Pb (II), Cu (II), and Hg (II), respectively. Besides, the constructed sensor was successfully applied to simultaneously quantify target heavy metals in spiked water samples. Owing to excellent sensitivity, high robustness, affordability, and fast response, the presented electrochemical sensor could be incorporated into a portable and miniaturized potentiostat device, making it a promising method for on-site water analysis.     

Electrochemical Properties and Application of Mixed Silver‐Bismuth Electrodes

Electrochemical properties of silver electrodes with 2, 4, 6, 10 and 15% bismuth have systematically been investigated with cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Increased overpotential towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was found as a result of increasing amount of added bismuth. This was also demonstrated in acid solution where zinc was successfully detected on mixed electrodes, but failed on pure silver electrodes. Formation and decomposition of oxide products formed on the different electrode surfaces were studied by cyclic voltammetry, and in addition to known species found on sliver, also peaks attributed to bismuth were achieved and examined. Zinc, cadmium, and lead were measured in the low μg/L range on the mixed electrodes, and good linearity (r²=0.998) was found for 2 to 10 μg/L. Lead was measured down to 0.1 μg/L. Further it was found in DPASV that the zinc peak significantly shifted towards a more negative value with increasing amount of bismuth in the silver electrodes. The same was also observed for cadmium and lead, but in a less extent. Finally a silver electrode containing 15% bismuth was used for continuous analyses in a polluted river for 6 weeks.     

Application of N-PLS calibration to the simultaneous determination of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) using peptide modified electrochemical sensors

The simultaneous determination of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) is demonstrated at four modified gold electrodes using N-PLS calibration. Three of the electrodes were modified with the peptides Gly-Gly-His, gamma-Glu-Cys Gly and human angiotensin I which were covalently attached to thioctic acid self-assembled monolayers and the fourth electrode was modified with thioctic acid only. Voltammetry at the modified electrodes in the presence of the three metal ions revealed one peak due to the reduction of copper and another due to the overlapping peaks of cadmium and lead which made quantification using conventional methods difficult. N-PLS was used to calibrate and predict trace concentrations (100 nM to 10 microM) of mixtures of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+).     

Voltammetry using a dental amalgam electrode for heavy metal monitoring of wines and spirits

We have introduced a non-toxic electrode material similar to dental amalgam for use in voltammetry. Its electrochemical properties are like a silver electrode. However, it possesses a higher overvoltage towards hydrogen than silver, and therefore enables detection of metals like zinc, nickel and cobalt. As such solid electrodes are found to give stable results over several weeks, without any maintenance, and because this method greatly facilitates monitoring of heavy metals, attempts to apply such methods to various samples have been are carried out. The present paper deals with the determination of zinc and lead at nanogram per milliliter levels in wines and spirits with only minor treatment of the samples. The procedure may easily be adapted to continuous monitoring.We have previously found that audible sound may greatly increase the voltammetric signal using liquid mercury as well as silver as electrode material. This is also applied to the actual systems.Finally, model determinations of thallium in brandy with the dental amalgam electrode are compared with atomic absorption spectrometric (AAS) measurements. It was found that the electrode could be used repeatedly, without fouling, and with results close to those found by the AAS method.