Determination of cobalt by catalytic-adsorptive differential pulse voltammetry in the presence of 2-aminocyclopentene-1-dithiocarboxylic acid and nitrite

A novel method for the determination of cobalt(II) by stripping voltammetry is described. It involves an adsorptive accumulation of the cobalt(II)-2-aminocyclopentene-1-dithiocarboxylic acid complex on a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by a stripping voltammetric measurement of the catalytic reduction current of the complex at –1.4 V at pH = 9 (vs. Ag/AgCl). The effects of various experimental parameters on the catalytic current were investigated. An accumulation time of 60 s results in a low experimental limit of detection of 0.1 ng/mL of Co(II), and 0.50 to 40.0 ng/mL of cobalt can be determined. The relative standard deviation at 0.50 ng/mL is 2.8%. Possible interferences from co-existing ions were also investigated. Received: 17 August 1998 / Revised: 16 November 1998 / Accepted: 20 November 1998