Anodic Stripping Voltammetry with the Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode for Trace Metal Detection in Soil Samples

The widely spread use of the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) for multi-ion analysis is primarily ascribed to the following reasons: (i) excellent reproducibility owing to the easy renewal of the electrode surface avoiding any hysteresis effect (i.e., a new identical drop is generated for each measurement to be accomplished); (ii) a wide cathodic potential window originating from the passive hydrogen evolution and solvent electrolysis; (iii) the ability to form amalgams with many redox-active metal ions; and (iv) the achievement of (sub)nanomolar limits of detection. On the other hand, the main controversy of the HMDE usage is the high toxicity level of mercury, which has motivated the scientific community to question whether the HMDE deserves to continue being used despite its unique capability for multi-metal detection. In this work, the simultaneous determination of Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+ using the HMDE is investigated as a model system to evaluate the main features of the technique. The analytical benefits of the HMDE in terms of linear range of response, reproducibility, limit of detection, proximity to ideal redox behavior of metal ions and analysis time are herein demonstrated and compared to other electrodes proposed in the literature as less-toxic alternatives to the HMDE. The results have revealed that the HMDE is largely superior to other reported methods in several aspects and, moreover, it displays excellent accuracy when simultaneously analyzing Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+ in such a complex matrix as digested soils. Yet, more efforts are required towards the definitive replacement of the HMDE in the electroanalysis field, despite the elegant approaches already reported in the literature.

A novel catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetric method for the determination of germanium ultratraces in the presence of chloranilic acid and the V(IV)·HEDTA complex

A novel, sensitive catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetric procedure which can be used to determine trace amounts of germanium is described. The method is based on the interfacial accumulation of the complex formed by Ge(IV) and the product of the reduction of chloranilic acid on the hanging mercury drop electrode or the renewable silver amalgam film electrode, and its subsequent reduction from the adsorbed state followed by the catalytic action of the V(IV)·HEDTA complex. The presence of V(IV)·HEDTA greatly enhances the adsorptive stripping response of Ge. The reduction of the Ge(IV) in the presence of chloranilic acid and V(IV)·HEDTA was investigated in detail and the effects of pH, electrolyte composition, and instrumental parameters were studied. Under optimal conditions, the catalytic peak current of germanium exhibited good linearity for Ge(IV) concentrations in the range of 0.75–60 nM (for 60 s of accumulation at −0.1 V, r2 = 0.995) and a low limit of detection (LOD = 0.085 nM). The procedure was successfully applied to determine Ge in water samples.

Teknologi Voltametri HDME, Sensitif Deteksi Asam Urat dalam Tubuh

Pada masyarakat sekarang ini, pemeriksaan asam urat sudah menjadi hal yang biasa dan sering dilakukan untuk mengetahui kondisi kesehatan karena asam urat menjadi salah satu faktor penting dalam metabolisme tubuh. Tingkat konsentrasi asam urat dapat mengindikasikan atau dikaitkan dengan gout, kegemukan, diabetes, kolesterol, tekanan darah, penyakit ginjal dan penyakit hati. Teknik pemeriksaan asam urat sangat beragam dengan tingkat akurasi dan sensivitas yang berbeda-beda pula. Metode voltametri dengan Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode (HMDE) memiliki potensi pengembangan terbaik dari metode voltametri lain misalnya glassy carbon electrode yang memiliki kelemahan yaitu selektivitas kurang pada sampel urin yang mengandung asam askorbat (vitamin C).Keyword : Asam urat, voltametri, hanging mercury drop electrode(HMDE)

Fast Determination of Auramine O in Food by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry

The electrochemical behaviour of auramine O on the hanging mercury drop electrode has been investigated by cyclic and square wave voltammetry method. Reduction peak of auramine O was irreversible and adsorptive on the hanging mercury drop electrode. The optimal conditions were chosen to be Briton–Robinson buffer pH 9.0, accumulation potential −0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl, accumulation time 60 s, pulse amplitude 250 mV·s−1, and frequency 50 Hz. At the optimum experimental conditions, the peak of the target analyte was sharp and asymmetric. The linearity of the peak current depending on the concentration ranged from 4.0 × 10−8 to 6.4 × 10−7 mol L−1. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 2.46 × 10−8 mol L−1 and 8.21 × 10−8 mol L−1, respectively. The recovery and relative standard deviation were 94.9% and 2.0% (n = 5). The developed method was successfully applied to determine auramine O in chicken samples with an appropriate sample preparation.