Trace Mercury Determination by Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry Using Polythiophene-Quinoline/Glassy Carbon Modified Electrode

Abstract

A Polythiophene-quinoline/glassy carbon (PTQ/GC) modified electrode was developed for the determination of trace mercury in industrial waste water, natural water, soil, and other media. The electrode was prepared by the cyclic voltammetric polymerization of thiophene and quinoline on glassy carbon (GC) electrode by the potential application from -0.6 V to +2.0 V (50 mV/sec) in a solution of 0.1 M thiophene, quinoline and tetrabutyl ammonium perchlorate (TBAP) in acetonitrile. Optimum thickness of the polymer membrane on the GC electrode was obtained with 20 repeated potential cyclings. The redox behavior of Cu(Ⅱ) and Hg(Ⅱ) were almost identical on this electrode. The addition of 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) to the solution containing Cu(Ⅱ) and Hg(Ⅱ) allowed the separation of the components due to the formation of the Cu(Ⅱ)-PAR complex reduced at -0.8V, which was different from the Hg(Ⅱ) reduced at -0.5 V on a saturated calomel electrode (SCE). The calibration graph of Hg(Ⅱ) shows good linear relationship with the correlation factor of 0.9995 and the concentration gradient of 0.33 ㎂/㎠/ppb down to 0.4 ppb Hg. The method developed was successfully applied to the determination of mercury in samples such as river, waste water, and sea water.