Determination of nickel by anodic adsorptive stripping voltammetry with a cation exchanger-modified carbon paste electrode

The behavior of a modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) for nickel determination by anodic adsorptive stripping voltammetry (AAdsSV) was studied. The electrode was built incorporating the Dowex 50W x 12 (H+ form) ion exchanger to a Nujol-graphite base paste. Ni2+ was preconcentrated on the electrode surface in open circuit conditions, with the reduction (−1300 mV)/reoxidation step carried out in HCl solution (pH 3). During deposition time (5 min), the hydrogen evolution did not present obstacle in the quantification of nickel. For 12 min of accumulation and 5 min of deposition, nickel can be quantified up to 600 μg l−1. The detection limit was 0.005 μg l−1 at a linear potential scan rate of 200 mV s−1. Interferences from Hg2+ and Ag2+ up to a concentration of 1 and 0.6 mg l−1, respectively, were eliminated with the aid of the anion exchanger Dowex-2 (mesh 200–400) which was added to the sample in the preconcentration step. The tolerance for some metal ions such as Cu2+, Cd2+, Fe3+, Zn2+, Co2+ and Pb2+ was improved in the same way. The method was applied for the determination of nickel in samples of tap and mineral water. At the concentration level of 50 μg l−1 of Ni 2+, the results were in good agreement with those obtained using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). For a Ni2+ concentration of 5 μg l−1, the results obtained showed better accuracy than those obtained by ICP-AES.