Electrochemical determination of lead using bismuth modified glassy carbon electrode

Electrochemical application of bismuth film modified glassy carbon electrode was studied with the objective of lead detection. Bismuth film on glassy carbon substrate was formed in a plating solution of 2 mmol/L Bi(NO₃)₃, in 1 mol/L HCl at ?1.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for 300 s. Lead was detected by differential pulse anodic voltammetry in acetate buffer of pH 5.0 in the concentration range of 7.5 nmol/L to 12.5 μmol/L. Factors influencing the anodic stripping performance, including deposition time, solution pH, Bi(III) concentration, potential, pulse amplitude, pulse width, have been optimized. Three linear calibration plots in the range 7.5 nmol/L to 0.1 μmol/L, 0.25 to 1 μmol/L, 2.5 to 12.5 μmol/L with regression coefficients of 0.991, 0.986 and 0.978 respectively were obtained. The theoretical detection limit equivalent to three times standard deviation for 7.5 nmol/L lead (n = 5) was calculated to be 5.25 nmol/L utilizing a 5 min deposition time and sensitivity 83.97 A L/mol. The sensitivity and detection limit of the method was compared with reported voltammetric methods for detection of lead and the result obtained was found to be promising for determination of lead.