This paper reports the use of an adsorptive voltammetric technique for Pb(II) determination using cupferron as a selective complexing agent. After accumulation of the complex onto a hanging mercury drop electrode, the electrode potential was scanned with differential pulse modulation and the reduction current of lead was observed at about −0.5 V. Under optimum conditions (5 × 10−4 mol L−1 cupferron concentration, 0.1 mol L−1 acetate buffer (pH 5.5), adsorption at −50 mV for 30 s) the detection limit was 5.1 × 10−10 mol L−1. The relative standard deviation of five measurements for low lead concentration was 3.1%. The accuracy of the method was tested by analysing certified reference material (SPS-WW1 Waste Water). Finally, the method was successfully applied to the determination of Pb(II) in river water samples without any pretreatments.
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