Continuous flow and flow injection stripping voltammetric determination of silver(I), mercury(II), and bismuth(III) at a bulk modified graphite tube electrode

The epoxy-impregnated graphite tube electrode bulk modified with 2-mercaptobenzoxazole, employed in a wall-jet configuration, was found to be useful for the continuous flow and flow injection stripping voltammetric determinations of Ag^I, Hg^II and Bi^III. For continuous flow, detection limits for Ag^I, Hg^II and Bi^III were 1.8 × 10⁻¹⁰ M, 1.9 × 10⁻⁹ M and 9.5 × 10⁻⁹ M, respectively (10 min accumulation, S/N = 3). Precisions for 5.00 × 10⁻⁹ M Ag^I, 1.00 × 10⁻⁸ M Hg^II and 1.00 × 10⁻⁷ M Bi^III were 10.5%, 5.77 % and 7.90% (relative standard deviations, n = 6), respectively. In the case of flow injection stripping, with a 500 μL injection loop, detection limits of 0.59 ng, 2.0 ng and 120 ng were obtained for Ag^I, Hg^II and Bi^III, respectively (S/N = 3). Selected metal ions, inorganic and organic substances were investigated for interferences. The electrode was tested with a certified sample and then applied to the determinations of the metal ions in a urine and a sea-water sample.