Abstract
BackgroundElemental sulfur (S) persists in natural aquatic environment in a variety of forms with different size distributions from dissolved to particulate. Determination of S speciation mainly consists of the application of chromatographic and electrochemical techniques while its size determination is limited only to the application of microscopic and light scattering techniques. S biological and geochemical importance together with recent increases of S industrial applications requires the development of different analytical tools for S sizing and quantification. In recent years the use of electrochemical measurements as a direct, fast, and inexpensive technique for the different nanoparticles (NPs) characterization (Ag, Au, Pt) is increasing. In this work, electrochemical i.e. chronoamperometric measurements at the Hg electrode are performed for determination of the size distribution of the S NPs.ResultsS NPs were synthesized in aqueous medium by sodium polysulphide acidic hydrolysis. Chronoamperometric measurements reveal the polydisperse nature of the formed suspension of S NPs. The electrochemical results were compared with dynamic light scattering measurements parallel run in the same S NPs suspensions. The two methods show fairly good agreement, both suggesting a log-normal size distribution of the S NPs sizes characterized by similar parameters.ConclusionsThe preliminary results highlight the amperometric measurements as a promising tool for the size determination of the S NPs in the water environment.
Highlights
Elemental sulphur (S in further text) is an important element, having many practical applications when present as NPs
Recent studies show that the application of nanoparticulate S as a fungicide is more effective than the use of micronsized S, due to the increased surface/volume ratio and enhanced surface energy density of the NPs [3,4]
Colloidal or nano-sized sulphur particles can be prepared in different ways such as the acidic hydrolysis of sodium thiosulphate, solvent/non-solvent precipitation method, the acidic decomposition of the polysulphides, the reduction of H2S by Fe-chelate, or the synthesis of S-cysteine colloidal solutions by ultrasonic treatment [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]
Summary
Elemental sulphur (S in further text) is an important element, having many practical applications when present as NPs. Recent studies show that the application of nanoparticulate S as a fungicide is more effective than the use of micronsized S, due to the increased surface/volume ratio and enhanced surface energy density of the NPs [3,4]. The synthesis of S NPs can be carried out by various methods in different media: in microemulsions from sublimed sulfur, and in an aqueous medium with the use of surfactants or electrochemical synthesis [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. In recent years the use of electrochemical measurements as a direct, fast, and inexpensive technique for the different nanoparticles (NPs) characterization (Ag, Au, Pt) is increasing. Electrochemical i.e. chronoamperometric measurements at the Hg electrode are performed for determination of the size distribution of the S NPs
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