Visual determination of mercury(II) using horseradish peroxidase immobilized on polyurethane foam Original Research Article

The inhibitory effect of mercury(II) towards the activity of horseradish peroxidase immobilized in chitosan on polyurethane foam in the o-dianisidine oxidation reaction has been used for developing a visual test procedure for the determination of Hg(II) at 1–1000 pg ml−1. The relative standard deviation at the lower limit of its analytical concentration range is 6% (n=3). The peroxidase immobilized on polyurethane foam keeps its catalytic activity for more than 1.5 years. The developed procedure was applied successfully for the analysis of different types of soils.