Rapidly renewable silver and gold annular band electrodes

An original construction of renewable metallic annular band electrodes (RAgABE and RAuABE) and a simple device for fast electrochemical activation of the electrodes are presented. The most important advantage of this hardware is the possibility of transfer of the metallic annular band electrode from the activation cell to the measurement cell without any contact with air in conditions securing minimal distortion of the inflexible part of the double layer. The effectiveness of the activation of RAgABE was presented for solutions of the highest (200 mg L−1) Triton X-100 concentration. The analytical applicability of the RAgABE was confirmed by means of quantitative determination of nanomolar concentrations of Pb(II). RAuABE was tested by determination of Cu(II) in non-pretreated water samples (without removal of oxygen and surfactants). Excellent repeatability and reproducibility – also in organic solutions – were reached in a period of a few weeks, through the renovation of the electrode before each measurement. The advanced signal processing procedures were applied for curves transformation and extraction of the maximum relevant information from experimental data.