Simultaneous adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination of bismuth(III) and indium(III) using cupferron as complexing agent – application to environmental waters

Abstract

A renewable mercury film silver-based electrode (Hg(Ag)FE) in combination with adsorptive stripping voltammetry is evinced as a simple and fast approach for a simultaneous quantification of indium(III) and bismuth(III) in natural water samples. In order to effectively preconcentrate and obtain signals from both analytes in one measurement, cupferron was used as a complexing agent. Optimal conditions were found to be as follows: 0.1 mol L–1 acetate buffer (pH = 4.6), 3 × 10–4 mol L–1 cupferron, accumulation potential of –0.1 V and accumulation time of 60 s. A linear response of In(III) and Bi(III) in a concentration range of 2 × 10–9 to 1 × 10–7 mol L–1 (r = 0.9986) was gained with a detection limit of 6.5 × 10–10 mol L–1 for In(III) and 8.3 × 10–10 mol L–1 for Bi(III), respectively. Analytical results of the analysis of river water samples demonstrated that the elaborated voltammetric method is apposite for direct environmental water analysis.