Investigation of materials for making a carbon-support zinc-selective electrode

The usefulness of zinc orthophosphate and zinc mercuric thiocyanate to make a carbon-support electrode responsive to zinc was investigated. The best results were obtained with zinc orthophosphate, which produced a Nernstian response to zinc in the concentration range from 10(-5) to 10(-2)M. The electrode response was lowered by the formation of acidic oxides on the surface of the electrode. Different ways of minimizing this problem are discussed. Interference effects from copper(II) (K(pot)(Zn.Cu) = 1.0), cadmium (K(pot)(Zn.Cd) = 8.9) and lead (K(pot)(Zn.Pb) = 10) were observed.