Observations on a dropping-mercury electrochemical detector for flow-injection analysis and HPLC

An electrochemical detector cell having a dropping-mercury working electrode and an Ag/ AgCl reference electrode is examined with reference to applications in flow-injection analysis and high-performance liquid chromatography. The working electrode, fed by a horizontal capillary, is capable of delivering mercury at fast dropping rates which can be varied by a control device in the cell. Examples of application to inorganic and organic electroreducible species are considered and advantages and limitations relative to other electrochemical detector devices are discussed.