Abstract
The widespread presence of heavy metals in drinking water sources arises as a major health concern, particularly in developing countries. The development of low-cost and reliable detection techniques is identified as a societal need to provide affordable water quality control. Herein, a bismuth film-coated gold ultramicroelectrode array (BF-UMEA) was used for the detection of Pb(II) and Cd(II) in water samples via square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). Experimental parameters such as deposition time, Bi(III) concentration, acetate buffer concentration, pH, square wave frequency, amplitude, and step potential were all varied to determine their effects on the current peak intensities of the target metal ions. Ten-fold excess in the concentration of interferences was found to cause a decrease in the stripping peak areas of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in the following order of magnitude: benzene < NaCl < Ni(II) < Cu(II). Using Box–Behnken design, the optimum SWASV parameters that provided maximum current peak areas were 14.76 Hz (frequency), 50.10 mV (amplitude), and 8.76 mV (step potential). The limits of detection of the as-prepared BF-UMEA were 5 and 7 µg L−1 for Pb(II) and Cd(II), respectively. These results demonstrate the potential use of a BF-UMEA in SWASV for the trace quantification of Pb(II) and Cd(II) in water samples.
Highlights
Heavy metal pollution in water bodies remains a major environmental concern
This suggests that the bismuth film-coated gold ultramicroelectrode array (BF-ultramicroelectrode array (UMEA)) outperformed other bismuthbased electrodes in the simultaneous quantification of trace Pb(II) and Cd(II) from water matrices [26,47,56]. This present work demonstrates the performance of a BF-UMEA for the simultaneous determination of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in water by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV)
Optimal experimental conditions of 600 s and 900 μg L−1 were determined for deposition time and Bi(III) concentration, respectively
Summary
Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements, their increased concentrations in aquatic environments are heavily linked to anthropogenic sources such as mining, metal plating, battery production, or their use as inorganic pigments [1]. Heavy metals do not degrade and tend to bioaccumulate throughout the food chain, thereby increasing the risks for hazardous health effects associated with metal toxicity and carcinogenicity [2]. Numerous pieces of medical evidence proved that cadmium and lead exposure directly impairs the brain, lungs, bones, liver, and kidneys of a person [3,4]. These metals can even transfer to an embryo through the placenta, affecting fetal growth and development [5]. The World Health Organization (WHO) had set a maximum allowable concentration of 3 μg L−1 for Cd and 10 μg L−1 for Pb in drinking water [6,7]
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