Determination of Selenium(IV) by Stripping Voltammetry at a Mercury-Film Electrode

A procedure was proposed for the determination of selenium(IV) by stripping voltammetry on a mercury-film electrode at an electrolysis potential of +0.4 V versus the saturated silver–silver chloride reference electrode in a 1 M H₂SO₄ solution. The current of the cathodic peak is a linear function of the selenium(IV) concentration in the range from 5 × 10^–3 to 3 × 10^–1 mg/L (6.3 × 10^–8 to 3.8 × 10^–6 M) at a time of electrolysis of 30 s (t_el). The detection limit for selenium is 1 × 10^–4 mg/L (1.3 × 10^–9 M) at t_el = 300 s. It was shown that selenium(IV) can be determined in the presence of 10 mg/L Zn(II), 1 mg/L Cd(II), 0.5 mg/L Pb(II), and 0.2 mg/L Cu(II). A procedure for the determination of selenium in natural, mineral, and potable water was proposed.