Square Wave Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry Determination of Chlorpyriphos in Irrigation Agricultural Water

Abstract

This work describes the electroanalytical determination of Chlorpyriphos pesticide in natural waters using hanging mercury drop electrode allied to square wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry. The best responses were obtained in Britton‒Robinson buffer solutions at pH 2.0, using a frequency of 100 s–1, a scan increment of 5 mV, a square wave amplitude of 25 mV and an accumulation potential of–0.4 V during 60 s. Therefore, voltammetric responses showed the presence of one well-defined and irreversible reduction peak, at–1.08 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl 1.0 M, which involves two electrons in the reduction of carbon‒nitrogen bond in the N-heterocyclic system with the participation of protonation equilibrium preceding the electron transfer reaction. Analytical curves were constructed and compared to similar curves performed by gas chromatograph coupled to a selective nitrogen‒phosphorus detector, which demonstrates that the proposed methodology is suitable for determining contamination by Chlorpyriphos in complex samples.