Stripping voltammetric behavior of nitrogen-doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin film electrodes in NaCl solutions

Conductive nitrogen-doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:N) thin films fabricated with a filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique were investigated for their ability to detect multiple trace heavy metals such as mercury, copper and lead by linear sweep anodic stripping voltammetry in sodium chloride aqueous solutions. The ta-C:N film electrodes exhibited a significant stripping response for determination of individual elements (Pb2+ and Hg2+) and multiple elements (Pb2+ + Hg2+ and Cu2+ + Hg2+), indicating that these electrodes have a great potential for simultaneously tracing multiple heavy metals in aqueous solutions.