Cathodic stripping voltammetry of nickel: sonoelectrochemical exploitation of the Ni(III)/Ni(II) couple

The exploitation of the Ni(III)/Ni(II) transition as a means of quantifying the concentration of nickel within industrial samples was assessed. The methodology relies upon the reagentless electrodeposition of Ni onto a glassy carbon electrode and the subsequent oxidative conversion of the metallic layer to Ni(III). The analytical signal is derived from a cathodic stripping protocol in which the reduction of the Ni(III) layer to Ni(II) is monitored through the use of square wave voltammetry. The procedure was refined through the introduction of an ultrasonic source which served to both enhance the deposition of nickel and to remove the nickel hydroxide layer that results from the measurement process. A well-defined stripping peak was observed at +0.7 V (vs. Ag∣AgCl) with the response found to be linear over the range 50 nM to 1 μM (based on a 30 s deposition time). Other metal ions such as Cu(II), Mn(II), Cr(III), Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Fe(III) and Co(II) did not interfere with the response when present in hundred fold excess. The viability of the technique was evaluated through the determination of nickel within a commercial copper nickel alloy and validated through an independent comparison with a standard ICP-AES protocol.