The influence of complexing agents on the effectiveness of electrochemical masking with anionic surfactants in anodic stripping voltammetry

The influence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, sodium dodecyl sulphonate and sodium stearinate on the anodic stripping peaks of Tl(I), Pb(II), Cd(II), Cu(II) and In(III) was investigated. The supporting electrolytes were 0.5M sodium sulphate solution, 0.2M citrate solution (pH 3.7, 4.6 and 7.3), 0.5M tartrate solution (pH 4.4) and 0.1M solution of EDTA (pH 4.4). The composition of complex compounds forming in a solution under experimental conditions was defined. The conditions of ion reduction of metals on hanging mercury electrode during the electrolytical deposition were investigated. The investigation included an analysis of voltammetric curves of the metal ions. The obtained results suggest that "electrochemical masking" is much stronger in electrolytes containing a complexing agent than in the sodium sulphate solution. The influence of the complexing agent may not be explained in terms of the interaction between the form of the complex and the charge of the adsorbed surfactant particles; rather the complexing process is connected with indirect inhibition, i.e., by decreasing the rate of charge transfer reaction.