Simultaneous determination of mercury and arsenic by anodic stripping voltammetry

An electrochemical method for the simultaneous determinations of Hg^II concentration and total As^III and As^V concentration has been developed. The method does not require the additional preliminary step of the chemical reduction of As^V to As^III, or oxidation of As^III to As^V before stripping analysis takes place. Also, the method for the simultaneous determination of Hg^II concentration and As^III concentration is described. Measurements were performed in 0.1 M HCl using a gold-plated graphite electrode as sensor. Detection limits for both methods are below 0.4 ppb. Relative standard deviation did not exceed 15%. The possible interference by other trace metals was investigated. Analyses of natural water and industrial solutions were made using proposed methods and AAS. The t-test demonstrates that there was no significant difference between the results obtained with these methods. Proposed methods decrease the time of analysis because concentrations of the Hg^II and arsenic ions were measured simultaneously. Also, the removal of the additional step of chemical reduction of As^V to As^III or oxidation of As^III to As^V decreases analysis time, and also reduces the chance of contamination due to the use of additional reagents.     

Fast cathodic stripping analysis with ultramicroelectrodes

Hemispherical ultramicroelectrodes (2.5–12.5 μm in radius) fabricated from silver or amalgamated copper, gold or platinum were used in the cathodic stripping of various anions. A comparison is presented between the results obtained using electrodes of a conventional size at slow sweep rates (ca. 100 mV s^?1) and those obtained using ultramicroelectrodes under fast linear-sweep conditions (ca. 700 V s^?1). Problems in maintaining reproducible electrode surfaces under various experimental conditions are discussed. In addition, the benefit of using electrodes of microscopic dimensions is illustrated by their utilization in the analysis of very small volumes of analyte that result from a solvent back-extraction process.     

Direct and simultaneous voltammetric analysis of heavy metals in tap water samples at Assiut city: an approach to improve the analysis time for nickel and cobalt determination at mercury film electrode

Tap water samples (Assiut city, lie in the middle north of upper Egypt, approx. 370 km from Cairo, January-March, 2002) were taken from the eight sampling sites of different locations at Assiut city. The samples are analyzed to determine the total content of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) while nickel and cobalt are determined by a new simple differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV), using dimethylglyoxime (DMG) as the complexing agent. This method uses sodium sulfite as the supporting electrolyte, which facilitates the removal of oxygen interference without the traditional necessity of purging with inert gas. The effect of various parameters was studied using DPASV (for Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn) and AdSV (for Ni and Co) methods. Subsequently, under the so found experimental conditions, the stability of calibration curves and the detection limits (μg/l) have been determined. The data achieved (for all metals utility) are comparable to those measured by the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometric (GF-AAS) method. The effects of the interferences between these metal ions have been investigated. Moreover, the effect of storage was discussed and the obtained results were compared favorably with standard official methods. Statistical analysis of the database exhibits applicability and the accuracy of the techniques. The results obtained from the two techniques (Voltammetry and GF-AAS) are in very good agreements in the most tap water samples.     

Integrated Microanalytical System Coupling Permeation Liquid Membrane and Voltammetry for Trace Metal Speciation. Technical Description and Optimization

A new minicell coupling the liquid‐liquid extraction technique called permeation liquid membrane (PLM) with an integrated Ir‐based Hg‐plated microelectrode array for voltammetric detection has been developed for the speciation of heavy metals in natural waters. Lead and cadmium have been used as model compounds. The PLM consists of a carrier (0.1 M 22DD+0.1 M lauric acid) dissolved in 1 : 1 mixture of toluene/phenylhexane held in the small pores (30 nm) of a hydrophobic polypropylene membrane (Celgard 2500). One side of this membrane is in contact with a flowing source solution, containing the metal ions of interest. An acceptor or strip solution (pyrophosphate) is placed on the other side of the PLM with the microelectrode array placed at 480 μm of the PLM. The analyte is transported by the carrier from the source solution to the strip solution. The originality of the new minicell is that accumulation in the strip solution is voltammetrically followed by the integrated microelectrode array in real time, and at low concentration level, using square‐wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). In order to protect the Hg microelectrodes from the adsorption of the hydrophobic carrier, the microelectrodes are embedded in a thin gel layer (280 μm) of 1.5% LGL agarose gel containing 10% of hydrophobic silica particles C18. The choice of optimum conditions is discussed in details in this article. Due to the very small effective strip volume of the new cell (less than 1 μL), high enrichment factor can be obtained (e.g., 330 for Pb) after 2 hours of accumulation. No deaeration of the solutions is required for SWASV measurements. Detection limits under these conditions are 2 pM and 75 pM for Pb and Cd, respectively, using a voltammetric deposition time of 5 min. In addition, no fouling effects were observed with natural water samples.     

Determination of Labile Iron at Low nmol L−1 Levels in Estuarine and Coastal Waters by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

A new method is presented for the determination of electrochemically labile iron in estuarine and coastal seawater. The method is based on differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) at a rotating silver‐alloy disk electrode. The voltammetric parameters include a plating potential of ?1.5 V and an activation potential of ?5 V for 10s; the seawater is at the original sample pH. The main finding is the presence of a peak for low nmol L^?1 levels of iron at ?0.55 V ascribed to elemental iron deposited on the bare silver alloy electrode. The peak increased linearly with the iron concentration between <1 and 14 nmol L^?1 using a 900 s plating time. At higher concentrations an additional iron peak appeared at ?0.7 V which was also found to increase linearly with the iron concentration but at a higher concentration range from ca. 15 to 90 nmol L^?1 using a 300 s plating time. The second peak was ascribed to iron deposited on iron. Additions of chelating agents (EDTA and a siderophore) to seawater caused the iron peak to be masked indicating that this method is suitable for iron speciation as only the electrochemically labile fraction is determined. The detection limit was 0.3 nmol L^?1 using a 900 s plating time. The method was used to determine iron in the range of 5 to 50 nmol L^?1 in samples from the Mersey estuary near Liverpool and its potential use for in situ monitoring was demonstrated by using it to monitor labile iron (at 2–3 nmol L^?1) over a period of 4 days at 1 h intervals in coastal waters in the Trondheim fjord, Norway.     

贫水电解质体系制备多孔阳极氧化铝模板的研究

在有机溶剂为主的含草酸电解质中,研究了大孔径有序度高的阳极氧化铝(AAO)的一步法电化学制备.实验证实,电解质中水含量的降低能够有效抑制铝的电氧化速率和溶解速率,使得其氧化膜孔道的生长能够稳定进行,所得到的六方孔道排列有序度明显高于纯水溶剂制备的电解质体系下的产物.考察了水含量、有机溶剂种类以及电解质浓度对AAO模板孔道形貌的影响.结果表明,有机溶剂贫水电解质体系使得电氧化电压的选取范围比水溶液电解质体系更宽,孔径连续可调,反应条件温和.该方法适合于制备均匀大孔径的AAO模板.     

Electrochemical Response of Cobalt(II) in the Presence of Ammonia

The electrochemical oxidation of cobalt(II) at gold, boron‐doped diamond, basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite, and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes in aqueous solutions containing NH₃ has been studied using cyclic voltammetry, with subsequent chemical and electrochemical processes explained in detail. Furthermore, the electro‐reduction of [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺ in the presence of different electrolytes has also been studied to obtain a better understanding of the oxidation pathway of the Co(II)‐ammine complexes. In aqueous solution the mechanism can be described by the following scheme:     

Cathodic stripping voltammetry of trace Mn(II) at carbon film electrodes

A sensitive voltammetric method is presented for the determination of tract levels of Mn (II) using carbon film electrodes fabricated from carbon resistors of 2 Ω. Determination of manganese was made by square wave cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV), with deposition of manganese as manganese dioxide. Chronoamperometric experiments were made to study MnO₂ nucleation and growth. As a result, it was found to be necessary to perform electrode conditioning at a more positive potential to initiate MnO₂ nucleation. Under optimised conditions the detection limit obtained was 4 nM and the relative standard deviation for eight measurements of 0.22 nM was 5.3%. Interferences from various metal ions on the response CSV of Mn(II) were investigated, namely Cd(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cr(VI), Pb(II), Zn(II) and Fe(II). Application to environmental samples was demonstrated.     

Voltammetric Behavior of Arsenic(III) in the Presence of Sodium Diethyl Dithiocarbamate and Its Determination in Water and Highly Saline Samples by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry

This paper describes the voltammetric behavior of As(III) at the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) in the presence of sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate (SDDC) and a new voltammetric method for the determination of As(III) at trace levels. The method is based on the adsorptive deposition of a As(III) complex with SDDC at ?0.45 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) on the HMDE in acidic medium of 0.01 mol L^?1 HCl (pH 2.0) and its cathodic stripping during the potential scan (100 mV s^?1). The linear range for the determination of As(III) in the presence of SDDC (4 μmol L^?1) in water samples was between 1 and 10 μg L^?1 for a deposition time of 300 s (r=0.994) and between 10 and 100 μg L^?1 for a deposition time of 60 s (r=0.999). For the determination of As(III) in dialysis concentrate samples, the linear range was between 5 and 25 μg L^?1 for a deposition time of 180 s (r=0.992) and between 10 and 100 μg L^?1 for a deposition time of 60 s (r=0.996). Detection limits of 0.3 and 2.2 μg L^?1 in water and dialysis concentrate samples were calculated for the method using a deposition time of 300 and 180 s, respectively. Recovery values between 93.0 and 110.0% for As(III) added to deionized, mineral, seawater (synthetic and real) and dialysis concentrate samples prove the satisfactory accuracy and applicability of the procedure.     

Anodic behaviour of mono- and bisdithiafulvenyl-9,9′-spirobifluorene: insertion of vinylogous TTF into the spirobifluorenyle framework

New three-dimensional copolymers containing 9,9′-spirobifluorenyl-ethylene units were prepared by anodic oxidation of 9,9′-spirobifluorenes 2-mono- or 2,7′-disubstituted by a dithiafulvenyl unit. The synthesis, physicochemical properties and electrochemistry of both monomers and derived oligomers and polymers are reported.