A new modified carbon paste electrode using N1-hydroxy-N1,N2-diphenylbenzamidine for the square wave anodic stripping voltammetric determination of Pb(II) in environmental samples

Abstract

This study presents a new method for simple, selective and sensitive electrochemical determination of lead(II) using N1-hydroxy-N1,N2-diphenylbenzamidine (HDPBA) modified carbon paste electrode. HDPBA was easily prepared in the laboratory from common chemicals. Morphological characterizations and spectroscopic analyses of the developed electrode were conducted using various analytical techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopic techniques. The electrochemical determination of Pb(II) was performed using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The effects of several experimental parameters such as modifier composition in the carbon paste, composition and pH of supporting electrolyte solutions, accumulation time, accumulation potential, and other instrumental parameters were studied for the analytical application. Pb(II) was accumulated for 270 s on the surface of the modified electrode using 0.1 M sodium acetate (NaAc) pH 5 at −0.90 V vs Ag/AgCl, followed by electrochemical stripping with SWASV in the same solution after a resting time of 10 s. The linear range was found to be 0.0001–2.5000 μM Pb(II) with a limit of detection of 0.0094 nM which are better than most of the reported method based on 2–4 different modifiers in a single electrode. The proposed method was found to be highly sensitive and selective. In addition, the developed electrode showed good reproducibility (with RSDs of 4.3%), long-term stability, and fast response. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of trace levels of Pb(II) in various environmental samples such as wastewater, vegetable, fish, and cigarette samples.