Determination of trace vanadium(V) by adsorptive anodic stripping voltammetry on an acetylene black paste electrode in the presence of alizarin violet

A sensitive and simplified voltammetric method is developed for the determination of trace amounts of vanadium(V) by adsorptive anodic stripping voltammetry using an acetylene black (AB) paste electrode. The method is based on the preconcentration of the V(V)–alizarin violet (AV) complex at open circuit while stirring the solution for 90 s in 0.15 mol dm−3 hexamethylenetetraamine–hydrochloric acid buffer (pH 4.4), the adsorbed complex is then oxidized, producing a response with a peak potential of 564 mV when scanning linearly from 0 to 1000 mV. For voltammetric determination of V(V), the parameters influencing the peak current have been optimized. Under the selected conditions, the peak current and concentration of V(V) accorded with linear relationship in the range of 8.0 × 10−10 mol dm−3–1.0 × 10−7 mol dm−3 (cAV = 2.0 × 10−6 mol dm−3) and 1.0 × 10−7 mol dm−3–8.0 × 10−6 mol dm−3 (cAV = 2.0 × 10−5 mol dm−3), the detection limit (three times signal to noise) was estimated to be 6.0 × 10−10 mol dm−3 for 90 s accumulation. The relative standard deviation (RSD) is 1.9% and 2.3% for V(V) concentrations of 1.0 × 10−7 mol dm−3 and 1.0 × 10−8 mol dm−3 respectively. Finally, this proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of V(V) in natural water samples.