Simultaneous trace-levels determination of Hg(II) and Pb(II) ions in various samples using a modified carbon paste electrode based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and a new synthesized Schiff base

A modified carbon paste electrode based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and 3-(4-methoxybenzylideneamino)-2-thioxothiazolodin-4-one as a new synthesized Schiff base was constructed for the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of Hg(II) and Pb(II) by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. The modified electrode showed an excellent selectivity and stability for Hg(II) and Pb(II) determinations and for accelerated electron transfer between the electrode and the analytes. The electrochemical properties and applications of the modified electrode were studied. Operational parameters such as pH, deposition potential and deposition time were optimized for the purpose of determination of traces of metal ions at pH 3.0. Under optimal conditions the limits of detection, based on three times the background noise, were 9.0 × 10⁻⁴ and 6.0 × 10⁻⁴ μmol L⁻¹ for Hg(II) and Pb(II) with a 90 s preconcentration, respectively. In addition, the modified electrode displayed a good reproducibility and selectivity, making it suitable for the simultaneous determination of Hg(II) and Pb(II) in real samples such as sea water, waste water, tobacco, marine and human teeth samples.     

Construction and Application of an Electrochemical Sensor for Simultaneous Determination of Cd(II), Cu(II) and Hg(II) in Water and Foodstuff Samples

By incorporation of synthesized magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) coated with a new Schiff base into carbon paste electrode, a novel modified electrode was constructed for simultaneous determination of ultra trace amounts of Cd(II), Cu(II) and Hg(II). The complexation reaction of Schiff base with metal ions was studied spectrophotometrically. Under optimal conditions a detection limit of 0.20, 0.90 and 1.00 ng mL^?1 for Cd(II), Cu(II) and Hg(II), respectively, was obtained. We take the advantages of the proposed method for simple, rapid, sensitive and selective simultaneous determination of trace amounts of hazardous Cd(II), Cu(II) and Hg(II) in water and foodstuff samples.     

Epoxy-based oligomer containing dithia-aza-based naphthylazobenzene pendant: a chemosensor for Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions

A simple epoxy-based oligomer 1 containing naphthylazobenzene-appended dithia-aza moieties was prepared. In UV–vis measurements, the proposed oligomer showed the ion-sensing ability to Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions. The discrimination between two differently responding Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions was also realised from ‘ON–OFF’ type fluorescence responses of 1.     

Characterization and application of humic acid modified carbon electrodes

Four routes for the modification of carbon electrodes with humic acids and the determination of three divalent metallic cations were studied. The determination of bound Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ was performed by cyclic and square wave voltammetry using either a batch or flow analysis system. Using the FIA system and SWV, linear relationships between the oxidation (or reduction) current and the cations concentration were obtained with the modified electrodes, while no signals were obtained for the same conditions for bare carbon electrodes. The system can be used to study the interaction between a wide range of electroactive cations and humic substances; however, the performance as an analytical tool is limited due to the high limits of detection (μM). However, some advantages like simplicity, short analysis time, inexpensive instrumentation needs and miniaturization capabilities are remarkable.     

Application of an Hg selective imprinted polymer as a new modifying agent for the preparation of a novel highly selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor for the determination of ultratrace mercury ions

A simple and very selective electrode, based on a mercury ion imprinted polymer (IIP), and its application for the determination of Hg²⁺ ions in the real samples is introduced. Mercury ion selective cavities were created in the vinyl pyridine based cross-linked polymer. In order to fabricate the sensor carbon particles and polymer powder were mixed with melted n-eicosane. An explicit difference was observed between the responses of the electrodes modified with IIP and non imprinted polymer (NIP), indicating proper performance of the recognition sites of the IIP. Various factors, known to affect the response behavior of selective electrode, were investigated and optimized. The interference of different ionic species with the response of the electrode was also studied. The results revealed that, compared to previously developed mercury selective sensors, the proposed sensor was more selective, regarding the common potential interferer. This sensor showed a linear response range of 2.5 × 10⁻⁹–5.0 × 10⁻⁷ M and lower detection limit of 5.2 × 10⁻¹⁰ M (S/N). The sensor was successfully applied to the determination of mercury in real samples.     

Flow-injection chemiluminescence simultaneous determination of cobalt(II) and copper(II) using partial least squares calibration

A flow-injection chemiluminescence (CL) system is proposed for simultaneous determination of Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ using partial least squares (PLS) calibration. This method is based on the fact that both Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ catalyse the CL reaction of luminol-H₂O₂, and that their kinetic characteristics of Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ are significantly different in the luminol-H₂O₂ system. The CL intensity was measured and recorder at different reaction times of luminol-H₂O₂Co²⁺Cu²⁺, and the obtained data were processed by the chemometric approach of partial least squares. The experimental calibration set was composed of 16 sample solutions using an orthogonal calibration design for two component mixtures. The proposed method offers the potential advantages of high sensitivity, simplicity and rapidity for Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ determination, and was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of both analytes in real water sample. The present paper demonstrated that the simultaneous determination of two metal ions without any prior separation has been possible using flow-injection CL system.     

Application of artificial neural network to simultaneous potentiometric determination of silver(I), mercury(II) and copper(II) ions by an unmodified carbon paste electrode

The response characteristics and selectivity coefficients of an unmodified carbon paste electrode (CPEs) towards Ag⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ were evaluated. The electrode was used as an indicator electrode for the simultaneous determination of the three metal ions in their mixtures via potentiometric titration with a standard thiocyanate solution. A three-layered feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN) trained by back-propagation learning algorithm was used to model the complex non-linear relationship between the concentration of silver, copper and mercury in their different mixtures and the potential of solution at different volumes of the added titrant. The network architecture and parameters were optimized to give low prediction errors. The optimized networks were able to precisely predict the concentrations of the three cations in synthetic mixtures.