Preparation of a gold electrode modified with tri-n-octylphosphine oxide and its application to determination of mercury in the environment

A gold film electrode modified with a film of tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) in a PVC matrix has been prepared and tested. Cyclic voltammetric experiments have shown that the electrode is useful for highly selective voltammetric determinations of a number of metals, primarily Hg, Cr, Fe, Bi, Sb, U and Pb. The electrode has been applied to the anodic stripping voltammetric determination of mercury in some environmental samples, such as river sediments. Concentrations of 0.02-50 ppm of mercury can be determined with good precision and accuracy, as demonstrated by analyses of reference materials. A selective decomposition of the samples at laboratory temperature decreases the danger of sample contamination and of volatilization of mercury.