Application of adsorptive stripping voltammetry to the determination of bismuth and copper in the presence of morin

A new method is presented for the determination of bismuth and copper based on cathodic adsorptive stripping of complexes of Cu(II) and Bi(III) with 2′,3,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone (morin) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The effect of various parameters such as pH, concentration of morin, accumulation potential and accumulation time on the selectivity and sensitivity were studied. The optimum conditions for determination of copper include nitric acid concentration 0.1 M, morin concentration 0.6 μM and accumulation potential of −300 mV. Those conditions for the determination of bismuth include 0.15 M acid concentration, 0.6 μM morin and accumulation potential of −300 mV. Under these optimum conditions and for an accumulation time of 60 s, the measured peak current at −20 to 25 mV is proportional to the concentration of copper and bismuth over the range of 0.2-130 and 5-50 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. At high concentration of morin (35 μM morin) and accumulation potential of −300 mV (versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode) the peak current is proportional only to the concentration of copper and bismuth has no contribution to the current. At low concentration of morin (0.5 μM morin) and accumulation potential of 100 mV (versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode) the peak current is proportional only to the concentration of bismuth. The method was applied to the determination of copper and bismuth in some real and synthetic samples with satisfactory results.