A thermostated electrochemical flow cell with a coupled bismuth film electrode for square-wave anodic stripping voltammetric determination of cadmium(II) and lead(II) in natural, wastewater and tap water samples

In order to reduce the sample consumption and waste generation for electrochemical purposes, a screen-printed electrode (SPE) used for electrodeposition of bismuth film (SPE-BiFE) and a thermostated electrochemical flow cell (EFC) were developed. The SPE-BiFE with the EFC was employed to determine Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) ions in natural, wastewater and tap water samples by square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). For this, the flow-batch analysis (FBA) approach based on solenoid micro-pumps and three-way valves was developed to carry out a fully automated procedure with temperature control. Furthermore, the FBA and the SWASV parameters were optimized, on line simultaneous determination of Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) ions was performed and two analytical curves were linearly acquired in the concentration ranges from 6.30 to 75.6µg L(-1) and from 3.20 to 38.4µg L(-1), respectively. Moreover, limits of detection of 0.60µg L(-1) and 0.10µg L(-1) for Cd(2+) and Pb(2+), respectively, were obtained. Studies of precision for the same SPE-BiFE and repeatability for five built SPE-BiFE were carried out for Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) ion measurements and RSD of 4.1% and 2.9% (n=3) with repeatabilities (n=5) of 6.5% and 8.0% were respectively obtained for both analytes. Besides, a low consumption of 700µL of reagents and a sampling frequency of 13h(-1) were acquired. Simplicity, fast response, accuracy, high portability, robustness and suitability for in loco analyses are the main features of the proposed electroanalytical method.