Automated polarographic analysis: Part II. Response time and precision studies

A systematic study of various experimental parameters which may influence the response time and precision of an automated polarographic system is described. The effects of segmented streams, flow rate, pump stop during sample shifts, debubbler position, current damping, scale expansion, sampling rate and type of deaerating gas are discussed. Low response times are favoured by the use of segmented streams, a high aspiration rate, a short distance between the debubbler and the working electrode and a low current damping, while the best precision is obtained by using scale expansion, pump stop during sample shifts, a low sampling rate and argon gas for deaeration. Under optimized conditions a standard deviation of 0.3 % was obtained.