Abstract
Calcinated and acidified clay modified carbon graphite electrode was deployed in the simultaneous evaluation of traces of Pb2+ and Cd2+ in solution. After 5 minutes of accumulation in the circuit, the sensitivity of the electrode was evaluated in a solution of Na2SO4 (0.1 M) by square wave voltammetry on the one hand with Pb (II) and on the other hand with Cd (II). Several experimental conditions such as the composition of the carbon clay paste, the effect of preconcentration time, the sweeping speed, concentration effect, media pH, and interference ionic response to the electrochemical response of the working electrode were examined. It was observed that, after 5 minutes of preconcentration, detection limits of 0.15513 μmol·L−1 and 0.24227 μmol·L−1 were obtained for Pb2+ and Cd2+ in the electrolyte solution and 0.08438 μmol·L−1 and 0.46522 μmol·L−1, respectively, when tap water was used. The detection was effective by square wave voltammetry with a more intense current density with respect to lead.
Highlights
Heavy metals are used in many areas of life, but excessive and uncontrolled use can be harmful to the environment and to human health [1]. e presence of these heavy metals in aquatic environments results from natural and anthropogenic activities [2]
Several techniques for analyzing traces of heavy metals in water have been used, among others which are IC, ICP-AES, AAS, and ICP-MS [5,6,7]. ese techniques certainly give convincing results, but AAS, for example, is a destructive method, limited just to chemical elements in the atomic state; in addition, the element to be analyzed must be known in advance, and its concentration must be at the trace scale at the risk of damaging the machine [8]
A potentiostat (PGSTAT 100, Eco Chemie BV, Utrecht) connected both to a computer equipped with Volta lab master 4 software and to an electrochemical cell equipped with a saturated calomel reference electrode (SCE), an auxiliary platinum electrode, and a working electrode made of the carbon/calcinated and acidified clay composite (CPE-ACC) electrochemical analyzes were deployed in the measurement. e pH control of the reaction medium was possible using a HANNA pH meter (HI 2210)
Summary
Heavy metals are used in many areas of life, but excessive and uncontrolled use can be harmful to the environment and to human health [1]. e presence of these heavy metals in aquatic environments results from natural and anthropogenic activities [2]. ICP-MS and ICP-AES have the drawback of pretreating the samples before analysis and with very expensive equipment maintenance cost [9, 10] Under another prism, the rapid reaction, the great sensitivity, and the portability relating to Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry electrochemical methods gives them a remarkable attraction [11, 12]. The rapid reaction, the great sensitivity, and the portability relating to Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry electrochemical methods gives them a remarkable attraction [11, 12] To this end, for several decades, the use and improvement of the sensitivity of electrochemical sensors to both organic pollutants and heavy metals has been of growing interest for electrochemists [13]. The interference effect and the performance and stability of the modified CPE-AAC electrode were investigated
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