Copper film electrode for anodic stripping voltammetric determination of trace mercury and lead

•in-situ prepared copper film electrode (CuFE) for anodic stripping voltammetry of trace concentrations of Hg(II) and Pb(II)•inexpensive and attractive alternative to gold-based electrodes particularly for Hg(II) determination•wide linear operational concentration range, favourably low LOD and excellent repeatability

A novel in-situ prepared copper film electrode (CuFE) for anodic stripping voltammetric measurement of trace levels of Hg(II) and Pb(II) is presented. The optimal electroanalytical performance of the CuFE was achieved in electrolyte solution comprising 0.1 M HCl and 0.4 M NaCl. The CuFE exhibited excellent operation in the presence of dissolved oxygen with calculated LoD of 0.1 μg L− 1 Hg(II) and 0.06 μg L− 1 Pb(II) in combination with 300 s accumulation time, repeatability with RSD of 4.5% for Hg(II) and 0.9% for Pb(II) (n = 12), and favourable linear response in the examined concentration range of 10–100 μg L− 1 (R2 = 0.997) for Hg and 5–70 μg L− 1 (R2 = 0.999) for Pb after 120 s accumulation. The electrode enabled also simultaneous detection of both investigated metal ions and revealed promising electroanalytical characteristics similar to or in certain cases surpassing those of commonly used gold electrodes.

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