Determination of mercury in bismuth by neutron activation analysis

A method has been developed for the determination of traces of mercury in bismuth by neutron activation analysis. After sample irradiation at a flux of 7 · 10¹³ n cm^-2 s^-1 for 20 min, mercury was separated from bismuth by addition of ammonium sulfide and re-dissolution of bismuth (matrix) sulfide with nitric acid, and filtration of sulfur containing mercury on a membrane filter. The activity of the 68- or 68–77-keV region, counted with a Ge(Li) or NaI(Tl) detector, was used for quantitative measurements. The method was applied to bismuth samples containing 0.1–100 p.p.m. of mercury.     

Electrochemical Properties and Range of Application of Mixed Gold Bismuth Electrodes

Electrochemical properties for mixed gold‐bismuth electrodes have been evaluated. Increased overpotential towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was found as a function of increased bismuth content in the gold‐bismuth mixture. Compared to a bare gold electrode, the overvoltage was increased by 80 mV for gold with 2% bismuth added (AuBi2), 170 mV for 6% bismuth added (AuBi6), and 580 mV for 25% bismuth added (AuBi25). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) in a NaOH solution was also carried out to study the formation of different oxide products on the surface. The practical use of such electrodes was demonstrated by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) for the detection of copper and mercury, and good linearity was found even for concentrations down to 0.25 μg/L. In addition to stability tests in NH₄Cl, the analytical use and stability over time were evaluated in purified scrubbing water and polluted river water.     

Simultaneous determination of mercury(II), copper(II) and bismuth(III) in urine by flow constant-current stripping analysis with a gold fibre electrode

Urine samples are treated with concentrated nitric acid and potassium permanganate ar 70°C for 10 min prior to injection. The flow electrode system consists of a 10-μm diameter gold fibre working electrode, a glassy carbon reference electrode and a platinum counter electrode. In the fully automated constant-current stripping procedure, the gold fibre is first covered with a fresh gold film after which the sample is electrolyzed for 1 min prior to stripping in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid with a current of 0.1μA. The procedure is repeated on a spiked sample after which the sample analyte concentrations are evaluated and presented digitally and graphically on a printer/plotter. The results obtained for bismuth, copper and mercury in a urine reference sample were 36.9, 39.7 and 47.7 μg l^?1 with standard deviations (n=10) of 3.2, 4.2 and 2.1, respectively. The certified values for copper and mercury were 45 and 51 μg l^?1; no certified value was available for bismuth.     

Extraction of gold and mercury from sea water with bismuth diethyldithiocarbamate prior to neutron activation—γ-spectrometry

Gold and mercury in sea water can be selectively extracted by bismuth diethyldithiocarbamate into chloroform at pH ?1. The matrix species and many other trace elements in the system are effectively removed during extraction. When neutron activation—γ-spectrometry is used, the detection limits for gold and mercury are 0.001 and 0.01 μg 1^?1, respectively. The relative precision is 9% for gold and 13% for mercury.     

Ex Situ Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) Investigation of Bismuth‐ and Bismuth/Lead Alloy Film‐Modified Gold Electrodes in Alkaline Medium

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) in feedback mode was employed to characterise the reactivity and microscopic peculiarities of bismuth and bismuth/lead alloys plated onto gold disk substrates in 0.1 mol L^?1 NaOH solutions. Methyl viologen was used as redox mediator, while a platinum microelectrode was employed as the SECM tip. The metal films were electrodeposited ex situ from NaOH solutions containing either bismuth ions only or both bismuth and lead ions. Approach curves and SECM images indicated that the metal films were conductive and locally reactive with oxygen to provide Bi³⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions. The occurrence of the latter chemical reactions was verified by local anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) at the substrate solution interface by using a mercury‐coated platinum SECM tip. The latter types of measurements allowed also verifying that lead was not uniformly distributed onto the bismuth film electrode substrate. These findings were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy images. The surface heterogeneity produced during the metal deposition process, however, did not affect the analytical performance of the bismuth coated gold electrode in anodic stripping voltammetry for the determination of lead in alkaline media, even in aerated aqueous solutions. Under the latter conditions, stripping peak currents proportional to lead concentration with a satisfactory reproducibility (within 5 % RSD) were obtained.     

Advantages of using a mercury coated, micro-wire, electrode in adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry

A mercury coated, gold, micro-wire electrode is used here for the determination of iron in seawater by catalytic cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) with a limit of detection of 0.1 nM Fe at a 60 s adsorption time. It was found that the electrode surface is stable for extended periods of analyses (at least five days) and that it is reactivated by briefly (2 s) applying a negative potential prior to each scan. Advantages of this electrode over mercury drop electrodes are that metallic mercury use is eliminated and that it can be readily used for flow analysis. This is demonstrated here by the determination of iron in seawater by continuous flow analysis. It is likely that this method can be extended to other elements. Experiments using bismuth coated, carbon fibre, electrodes showed that the bismuth catalyses the oxidation of the important oxidants bromate and hydrogen peroxide, which makes it impossible to use bismuth based electrodes for catalytic CSV involving these oxidants. For this reason mercury coated electrodes retain a major advantage for catalytic voltammetric analyses.     

Anodic Dissolution of Gold in Alkali–Cyanide Solutions Containing Microquantities of Mercury Ions

An admixture of mercury ions accelerates dissolution of gold at negative (in the hydrogen scale) potentials and hinders it at positive potentials. In contradistinction to a similar effect exerted by admixtures of thallium, bismuth, and lead ions, the influence of mercury ions, all other conditions being equal, manifests itself at much longer times of contact between gold and solution. This difference is due to a low rate of the act of adsorption (discharge) of mercury ions. The rate increases at more negative potentials, and at E –1.2 V (NHE) the act accelerates to such an extent that looses the limiting role, which passes to the stage of supply of mercury ions to the electrode, as with solutions containing thallium, bismuth, and lead. Comparing these results with earlier data on the adsorption of cyanide ions on gold shows that the discharge of the Hg(CN)^2- ₄ anions stops limiting the formation of a layer of mercury atoms when the adsorption of cyanide ions turns insignificant.     

Seperations involving sulphides : Separation of alkaline earth metals from some elements that form sulphides

It has been shown that 2N sodium sulphide reagent can be used efficiently for separating. 1.Barium from rhenium, platinum, gold, bismuth, palladium, lead or cadmium. 2.Strontium, calcium and magnesium from rhenium, platium, gold, mercury, bismuth, palladium, lead or cadmium     

Separation of traces and larger amounts of bismuth from gram amounts of thallium, mercury, gold and platinum by cation-exchange chromatography on a macroporous resin

Traces and larger amounts of bismuth (up to 50 mg) can be separated from gram amounts of thallium, mercury, gold and platinum (up to 5 g) by sorption from a mixture of 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 0.4M nitric acid on a column containing just 3 g (8.1 ml) of AGMP-50, a macroporous cation-exchange resin. This resin retains bismuth much more strongly than does the usual microporous resin (styrene-DVB with 8% cross-linkage). Other elements are eluted with the same acid mixture as that used for sorption, and bismuth is finally eluted with 1.0M hydrochloric acid. Separations of bismuth are sharp and recoveries quantitative. Only microgram amounts of the other elements remain in the bismuth fraction. Amounts of bismuth as little as 5 mug have been separated from 5 g of thallium, and determined (r.s.d. = 2%) by flame atomic-absorption. Only 100-mug amounts of bismuth have been separated from gram amounts of mercury, gold, and platinum, but there is no reason to believe that smaller or larger amounts of bismuth cannot be separated from these elements and recovered with the same accuracy as that for the separation from thallium. The lower limit of the method is determination of 0.4 mug of bismuth in 10 ml of solution (0.004 absorbance). An elution curve, the relevant distribution coefficients and the results of analysis of synthetic mixtures and two practical samples [thallium metal and mercury(II) nitrate] are presented.     

Voltammetric Behavior of Osmium‐Labeled DNA at Mercury Meniscus‐Modified Solid Amalgam Electrodes. Detecting DNA Hybridization

The complex of osmium tetroxide with 2,2′‐bipyridine has been utilized as a probe of DNA structure and an electroactive marker of DNA in DNA hybridization sensors. It produces several voltammetric signals, the most negative of them has been observed only at mercury electrodes. This signal is of catalytic nature affording a high sensitivity of DNA determination. The catalytic current due to evolution of hydrogen in voltammetry of DNA modified by complex of osmium tetroxide with 2,2′‐bipyridine (DNA‐Os,bipy) was studied. Solid amalgam electrodes (modified with mercury menisci) of silver (m‐AgSAE), copper (m‐CuSAE), gold, and of combined bismuth and silver, were used as possible substitutes for mercury electrodes. Besides the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE), the catalytic current was observed only on m‐AgSAE and m‐CuSAE. Electrodes of gold and bismuth amalgams did not give the catalytic current. The detection limit of DNA‐Os,bipy on HMDE was 0.1 ng mL^?1 (RSD=2.3 %, N=11), and on m‐AgSAE 0.2 ng mL^?1 (RSD=3.1%, N=11). The m‐AgSAE was successfully applied as a detection electrode in double‐surface DNA hybridization experiments offering highly specific discrimination between complementary (target) and nonspecific DNAs, as well as determination of the length of a repetitive DNA sequence. The m‐AgSAE has proved a convenient alternative to the HMDE or carbon electrodes used for similar purposes in previous work.     

Electrocatalysis by adatoms at the gold and silver dissolution in cyanide solutions

The peculiarities of the effects of upd thallium, lead, bismuth, and mercury on the dissolution rates of gold and silver in cyanide electrolytes are compared. In general, they feature the abrupt acceleration of the dissolution of gold and, to a lesser extend, silver in the chemisorption range of mentioned ions. As the potential increases, the gold dissolution rates passes through a maximum the height of which is comparable with the limiting current of this process associated with limitations in the delivery of cyanide ions to the electrode surface. The current decay after the maximum is due to desorption of catalytically active adatoms. The chemisorption rate of thallium, lead, and bismuth ions at potentials more negative than the current peak is controlled by their diffusion to the gold surface, whereas the chemisorption rate of mercury is controlled by the adsorption kinetics. With the increase in the surface coverage with adatoms θ, the catalytic activity of all considered adatoms passes through a maximum. The sharp increase in the effective transfer coefficient in the presence of these adatoms makes the main contribution into the acceleration of the gold dissolution, while the increase in the exchange current has a smaller effect. The chemisorption of mentioned atoms on gold not only accelerates the dissolution but also changes its mechanism. For gold dissolution, the catalytic activity of upd thallium, lead, and bismuth increases in the following sequence: Tl ? Pb < Bi and the effect is additive in their simultaneous presence. For silver, the increase in the exchange current makes the main contribution into the acceleration of dissolution, whereas the transfer coefficient and the reaction order with respect to the ligand change insignificantly. Explanation of the observed peculiarities is given.     

Selective stripping voltammetric determinations employing cells for electrolysis with simultaneous ion-exchange or solvent extraction

Cells have been designed for stripping-voltammetry analyses employing graphite working electrodes and mercury film electrodes on a graphite support, permitting ion-exchange or solvent extraction separation simultaneously with the pre-electrolysis. The ion-exchange separation was tested on the determination of mercury in the presence of excess of copper(II), lead and cadmium and on the determination of bismuth in the presence of excess of copper(II). The solvent extraction separation was tested on the determination of mercury(II) in the presence of copper(II), lead and cadmium and the determination of copper(II) in the presence of bismuth. Very good results were obtained by using ion-exchange, where the sensitivity and precision of the determination are comparable with those obtained in the determinations without separation, the separation efficiency being very high, limited virtually only by the capacity of the ion-exchanger used. The solvent extraction separations yielded poorer results: the sensitivity of the determination is decreased substantially, the separation efficiency is not very high and difficulties arise from the adsorption of the organic phase on the electrode surface.     

Radiometric determination of submicrogram amounts of mercury

A radiometric method for the determination of submicrogram amounts of mercury (down to 5 x 10(-10)g ml ) is described. The method is based on the exchange reaction between mercury and silver-110m dithizonate. Only palladium, gold, silver, and large amounts of copper and bismuth interfere in the determination, and must be removed.     

Cation-exchange behaviour of the platinum group and some other rare elements in hydrobromic acid-thiourea-acetone media

Ion-exchange distribution coefficients and elution curves are presented for copper(I), silver, gold(I), palladium, platinum(II), rhodium(III), iridium(III), ruthenium(III), osmium(III), mercury(II), thallium(I), tellurium(II), lead and bismuth in mixtures of thiourea, hydrobromic acid, acetone and water, with the cation-exchange resin AGW50W-X4. The system affords excellent separations of rhodium, mercury, silver (or copper), tellurium, gold, and palladium (or platinum) from each other.     

The Use of the Bismuth Film Electrode for the Anodic Stripping Voltammetric Determination of Tin

Bismuth coated glassy carbon electrodes have been applied to the square‐wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) of trace concentrations of tin. Optimization of Bismuth Film Electrode (BFE) performance was conducted after initial comparison with the more traditional mercury electrode. Simultaneous deposition of tin and bismuth at ?1.3 V for 2 minutes in a supporting electrolyte of 2.5 M sodium bromide utilizing a square‐wave stripping step, allowed analysis of tin at the μg L^?1 level. Parameters, such as deposition potential and time, bismuth concentration, square‐waveform settings including amplitude, step height and frequency were studied and optimized. The dependence of stripping current on deposition time indicates that using longer deposition time should facilitate sub μg L^?1 analysis. Tin was analyzed simultaneously with cadmium and either indium or thallium; Where as lead and copper were not resolved from the stripping peaks of tin and bismuth respectively. Finally, the method was applied to the analysis of tin in fruit juice.     

Quantitative paper chromatography : The separation and gravimetric determination of copper

Up to 50 mg of copper can be separated from similar quantities of silver, gold, platinum, rhodium, mercury and bismuth by a chromatographic method which employs butanol saturated with both 2 N NH₄OH and dimethylglyoxime as solvent. The copper may be quantitatively determined by electro-deposition from nitric acid solutions of the filtrates obtained. Strips of paper-pulp, approximately 250 mm long, 25 mm wide and 6 mm thick, and capable of absorbing 2 ml of solution on a spot 25 mm in diameter, are utilised.     

Non-dispersive atomic-fluorescence spectrometry of trace amounts of bismuth by introduction of its gaseous hydride into a premixed argon (entrained air)-hydrogen flame

A method has been developed for the determination of bismuth by generation of its gaseous hydride and introduction of the hydride into a premixed argon (entrained air)-hydrogen flame, the atomic-fluorescence lines from which are all detected by use of a non-dispersive system. The detection limit is 5 pg/ml, or 0.1 ng of bismuth, but the reagent blank found in a 20-ml sample volume was approximately 2 ng of bismuth. Analytical working curves obtained by measuring peak-heights and integrated peak-areas of the signals are linear over a range of about four orders of magnitude from the detection limit. Perchloric, phosphoric and sulphuric acids up to 2.0M concentration give no interference, but nitric acid gives slight depression of the signal. The presence of silver, gold, nickel, palladium, platinum, selenium and tellurium in 1000-fold ratio to bismuth causes pronounced depression of the signal, whereas mercury and tin slightly enhance the atomic-fluorescence signal. The method has been applied to the determination of bismuth in aluminium-base alloys and sulphide ores with use of the standard additions method. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by flame atomic-absorption spectrometry and optical emission spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma.     

乙酸除铋火试金法测定粗铋中的金银含量

建立了用乙酸分离粗铋中铋-火试金重量法测定粗铋中金和银含量的方法。首先把粗铋焙烧氧化,然后用乙酸溶解粗铋的氧化物,过滤除去铋,消除铋对火试金法的干扰,将沉淀物灰化后,配料、高温熔融,熔态的金属铅捕集试样中的贵金属形成铅扣,将铅扣灰吹,得到金银合粒,用硝酸溶解分离金,用重量法测定金含量。方法准确度高,精密度好,金的加标回收率为99.2%～101%,银的加标回收率为98.2%～99.7%。能很好地满足粗铋中金、银的测定。     

Electroanalysis of some nitro-compounds using bulk bismuth electrode

Nitro compounds were usually determined electrochemically using the mercury drop with DPP technique. An alternate way to toxic mercury is the increasing use of the bismuth electrode as thin film electrodeposited on glassy carbon or copper for example, or as bulk bismuth disc. In the present paper several nitrocompounds were investigated: mononitrophenols, dinitrophenol, nitrobenzoic acid, nitrobenzaldehyde and a well known pesticide, parathion, which has a nitro group in para position on a phenyl cycle. Bulk bismuth electrode was a disc (cross section of a rod of 5 mm diameter embedded in Teflon®) polished with silicon carbide disc (P2400) and sonicated to remove any abrasive particle. The supporting electrolyte was the acetic buffer (pH 4.7), which was found suitable for all these compounds. Using cathodic sweep differential pulse voltammetry, it was noticed that according to the position of the nitro group on the cycle, the peak potentials might range between ?300 to ?750 mV vs. SCE. Limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) were determined for each compound whose response for increasing concentration was linear in the ～3–50 µmol L^?1 whatever the considered molecule. Adsorptive differential pulse voltammetry was found very efficient to determine parathion, because this molecule adsorbs on bismuth at ?0.2 V vs. SCE. Bulk bismuth electrode was compared to the hanging mercury drop electrode and led to an identical behaviour.     

Porphyrin complexes of the period 6 main group and late transition metals

Metalloporphyrin complexes of the period six metals gold, mercury, thallium, lead and bismuth are often overlooked in favour of their lighter congeners. These complexes exhibit unusual coordination geometries, prominently featuring the metal centre residing out the porphyrin plane. Not only are these compounds chemically interesting, but several applications for these complexes are beginning to emerge. Gold and bismuth porphyrins have medicinal applications including novel chemotherapeutics and sensitizers for α-radiotherapy, while gold porphyrins have applications in materials chemistry and catalysis. This perspective serves to highlight trends in the synthesis and structure of these heavy metal complexes as well as illustrate the considerations necessary for rationally designing elaborate porphyrin architectures.