Hot-wire stripping potentiometric measurements of trace mercury Original Research Article

Hot-wire electrochemistry has been combined with stripping chronopotentiometry. The new hot-wire stripping potentiometric protocol couples the effective heat-induced metal deposition inherent to heated electrodes with the powerful stripping and sophisticated background correction of microprocessor-controlled chronopotentiometry. Such coupling is demonstrated in connection to trace measurements of mercury at a gold wire microelectrode. The greatly enhanced mercury signal accrued from the use of the heated electrode obviates the need for a forced-convective hydrodynamic systems (as desired, for example, in remote/submersible stripping operations). Using an electrode temperature of 60°C and a quiescent solution, the response is linear over the 0.5–25 μg/l range tested (2 min deposition), with a detection limit of 80 ng/l (following a 10 min accumulation).