Electrocatalytic Determination of Vitamin C Using Calixarene Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

Effect of in situ complexation of some ions with variable valencies, like Co(II), Ni(II), Mn(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) on the the electrooxidation of Vitamin C (L ‐ascorbic acid) was studied by cyclic voltammetry using carbon paste electrodes modified with p‐tert‐butylcalix[4]arene and p‐tert‐butylcalix[6]arene in perchloric acid, acetic acid and ammonium acetate media. Pb(II) was found to bind strongly with p‐tert‐butylcalix[4]arene in acetate medium, resulting in its being retained at the electrode surface and catalyzing the oxidation of ascorbic acid. The overpotential was reduced by about 200 mV with an increase in the peak currents. Linearity was observed over the range of 0.07–400 ppm with a detection limit of 30 ppb by differential pulse voltammetry. Interferences of some common substances like sugars and amino acids were studied and the modified electrode was used for the determination of vitamin C in commercial samples.     

A selective modified carbon paste electrode for determination of cyanide using tetra-3,4-pyridinoporphyrazinatocobalt(II)

A chemically modified carbon paste electrode with 3,4-tetra pyridinoporphirazinatocobalt(II) (Co(3,4 tppa) was applied to the determination of free cyanide ion. The electrode has a linear range between 1.5 × 10⁻⁵ M and 1.0 × 10⁻² M with a Nernstian slope of 60 ± 1.5 mV/decade and its detection limit is 9 × 10⁻⁶ M. The response time of electrode is 5 min. The proposed electrode was applied successfully for the determination of cyanide in commercially available spring water. Some anions, such as SCN⁻, I⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻ and oxalate that are usually serious interfering species for most of cyanide selective electrodes, did not have any interfering effect for this proposed electrode.     

Electrodeposition of mercury film on electrodes modified with clay minerals

A new type of carbon paste electrode modified with clay mineral and covered with a mercury film is presented in this work. Electrodeposition of the mercury film was performed on the carbon paste electrode modified with montmorillonite. The mercury film was deposited by both electrodeposition in situ and a preliminary electrodeposition. The pre-deposited film of mercury showed to be suitable for anodic stripping voltammetry. An open-circuit sorption of Cd, Pb, and Cu with subsequent anodic stripping voltammetry exhibited higher current responses of metals. Besides the enhanced sensitivity superior separation of the current responses during a simultaneous stripping of metals is expected to be achieved by means of the newly prepared electrode. Presented at the 57th Congress of Chemical Societies, Tatranské Matliare, 4–8 September 2005.     

Electroanalytical Study of Prussian Blue Modified Glassy Carbon Paste Electrodes

Two types of glassy carbon (GC) powder (i.e., Sigradur K and Sigradur G) have been mixed with mineral oil to obtain glassy carbon paste electrodes (GCPE's). The electrochemical behavior of such electrodes at different percentages of glassy carbon has been evaluated with respect to the electrochemistry of ferricyanide as revealed with cyclic voltammetry and the best paste composition was chosen. GC was then modified with Prussian Blue (PB), mixed at different percentages with unmodified GC and with a fixed amount of mineral oil in order to obtain PB modified glassy carbon paste electrodes (PB‐GCPE's). PB‐GCPE's with different percentages of GC modified with PB (PB‐GC) were compared and the dependence on the amount of PB on their performances was evaluated by studying the parameters of cyclic voltammetry (i.e., current peak, ΔE_p, anodic and cathodic current ratio, charge density) and the amperometric response to H₂O₂. Data interpretation based on the GC surface area is presented. GCPE's with a selected amount of PB‐GC were then tested as H₂O₂ probes and all the analytical parameters together with the dependence on pH were evaluated. Some preliminary experiments with these electrodes assembled as glucose, lysine and lactate biosensors are also reported.     

Voltammetric behavior and determination of bismuth on sodium humate modified carbon paste electrode

The preconcentration and voltammetric behavior of Bi^III on a sodium humate modified carbon paste electrode was studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse stripping voltammetry (DPSV). The proposed measurement involves an initial nonelectrolytic preconcentration step in which Bi^III is complexed by the surface modifier in a solution of 0.05 M KNO₃-0.0106 M HNO₃ (pH 2.0) and a subsequent electrochemical scan step in which the preconcentrated Bi^III was reduced and then oxidized promptly in supporting electrolyte of 0.5 M HNO₃. The resulting DPSV anodic current was proportional to the concentration of Bi^III ion over the range of 4.78 × 10⁻⁸–1.44 × 10⁻⁵ M. The detection limit was 4.78 × 10⁻⁸ M. The proposed method was used to determine bismuth in various samples. Various factors affecting the electrode behavior were also investigated at the same time.     

Development and characterization of ion selective electrode for the assay of antimony

The construction and general performance characteristics of two novel potentiometric carbon paste electrodes (CPE) responsive to antimony are described. These sensors are based on the use of the ion associate complexes of tetraiodoantimonate (TIA) anion with cetylpyridinium (CP) and triphenyl tetrazolium (TPT) counter cations as ion exchange site in a carbon paste matrix. The two sensors exhibits fast, stable and near-Nernstian for the mono charged TIA anion over the concentration range 1 × 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁶ M at 25 °C in the pH range 4-10 with anionic slope of 58.0 ± 0.5 and 55.0 ± 0.7 per concentration decade for TIA-CP and TIA-TPT, respectively. The lower detection limits are 4 and 5 × 10⁻⁶ M and response time are 20 and 30 s in the same order of both electrodes. Selectivity coefficients for antimony relative to a number of different cations and anions were investigated. There is negligible interference from many inorganic cation and anion except for Hg²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Bi³⁺; however, their effect were eliminated by EDTA. The determination of 1.0-120.0 μg/ml of antimony in aqueous solutions shows an average recovery of 99.0 and 97.5% with relative standard deviation of 2.0% for both electrodes at 40 μg/ml. The determination of antimony in wastewater and some antibilharzial compounds using the proposed electrodes gave results that compare favorably with those obtained by the atomic absorption spectrometric method. Precipitation titrations involving cetylpyridinium chloride as titrant are monitored with both electrodes with inflection point of 180 and 100 mV for TIA-CP and TIA-TPT, respectively.     

Stripping Voltammetry of Mercury(II) with a Chemically Modified Carbon Paste Electrode Containing Silica Gel Functionalized with 2,5‐Dimercapto‐1,3,4‐thiadiazole

The accumulation voltammetry of mercury(II) was investigated at a carbon paste electrode chemically modified with silica gel functionalized with 2,5‐dimercapto‐1,3,4‐thiadiazole (DTTPSG‐CPE). The repetitive cyclic voltammogram of mercury(II) solution in the potential range ?0.2 to +0.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), (0.02 mol L^?1 KNO₃ ; v=20 mV s^?1) show two peaks one at about 0.0 V and other at 0.31 V. However, the cathodic wave peak, around 0.0 V, is irregular and changes its form in each cycle. This peak at about 0.0 V is the reduction current for mercury(II) accumulated in the DTTPSG‐CPE. The anodic wave peak at 0.31 V is well‐defined and does not change during the cycles. The resultant material was characterized by cyclic and differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry performed with the electrode in differents supporting electrolytes. The mercury response was evaluated with respect to pH, electrode composition, preconcentration time, mercury concentration, “cleaning” solution, possible interferences and other variables. The precision for six determinations (n=6) of 0.05 and 0.20 mg L^?1 Hg(II) was 2.8 and 2.2% (relative standard deviation), respectively. The method was satisfactory and used to determine the concentration of mercury(II) in natural waters contaminated by this metal.     

A novel method for determination of magnesium in urine and water samples with mercury film-plated carbon paste electrode

A square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetric (SWAdSV) method for the indirect determination of trace amounts of magnesium with thiopentone sodium (TPS) as an electroactive ligand, at carbon paste mercury film electrode (CP-MFE) is proposed. It is observed that the increase of the square wave voltammetric cathodic peak current of TPS, under alkaline conditions, is linear with the increase of Mg concentration. Under optimum experimental conditions viz.; pH 10.75, 3×10⁻⁵ M TPS and 0.05 M phosphate buffer (Na₂HPO₄-NaH₂PO₄), a linear relation in the range 6×10⁻⁹ to 9×10⁻⁸ M Mg²⁺ (0.14-2.16 ppb), at 60 s deposition time, is obtained. The detection limit of Mg²⁺ is 0.14 ppb for 60 s deposition time with the relative standard deviation is 0.5% (n=5). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of magnesium in urine and tap water samples with satisfactory results. The data obtained are compared with the standard flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric method (FAAS).     

The electrocatalytic examination of cephalosporins at carbon paste electrode modified with CoSalophen

The electrocatalytic oxidation of cephalexin and cefazolin has been studied at a carbon paste electrode modified with cobalt salophen (CoSal) by cyclic voltammetry. The selectivity of the carbon paste modified with CoSal in detecting cephalexin and cefazolin was examined. To suggest the electrocatalytic mechanism for electro-oxidation of cefazolin, the electrochemical behavior of ceftriaxone was investigated which has a thiol group out of the beta lactam ring. The electrocatalytic oxidation of these antibiotics is shown to be irreversible at the CoSal modified electrode. Scan rate dependence of cefazolin, which is a sulfur-containing compound, has been examined. The results indicated that the electrocatalytic oxidation of the compounds is diffusion controlled. The responses of the modified electrode were compared with those of unmodified electrode and it has shown that the modified electrode has better sensitivity than unmodified electrode to the detection of cefazolin. The overall number of electrons contributed to the oxidation of cefazolin is obtained 1 by chronoamperometry; the number of electron involved in the rate-determining step was 1. The results of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) using the modified electrode with high sensitivity were applied for the determination of cefazolin in human synthetic serum samples. The linear range was obtained from 1 × 10⁻⁵ to 1 × 10⁻³ M for DPV determination of cefazolin in buffered solutions (pH 3.0).     

Voltammetric determination of azithromycin at the carbon paste electrode

Azithromycin (AZ) is the first member of a class of macrolide azalides antibiotics called azolides. A simple and selective square-wave voltammetric (SWV) method has been developed for the determination of azithromycin in pure form, in pharmaceutical preparation and in biological samples. Determination of azithromycin was accomplished with hand-make carbon paste electrode (CPE) in oxidative screen mode. The counter and reference electrodes were a Pt wire and a Ag/AgCl, respectively. Various parameters that can influence the peak signal (effect of buffer, ionic strength, accumulation time, pH and the composition of the paste) have been scrutinized. The best results were obtained in acetonitrile—aqueous 1 M sodium acetate-acetic acid buffer (pH 4.6) containing 0.1 M KCl (1:9; v/v) using a 15% paraffin oil CPE. The limits of detection and quantification of the pure drug are 0.463 and 1.544 ppb (with the correlation coefficient, r=0.9785and the standard deviation, S.D.=0.1 (n=5), for the accumulation time of 60 s), respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of the drug in urine and two forms of pharmaceutical formulations. Recoveries were 99.2—100.5% with S.D.=0.1—and 0.8% (n=5).