This work demonstrates a mercury-free voltammetric approach in trace analysis, highlighting cost-effective alternatives for undergraduate labs.
Voltammetry is a widely used instrumental method in trace analysis. However, most analytical chemistry textbooks and undergraduate laboratory exercises focus on polarography, which employs mercury droplets as microelectrodes for the reduction of metal ions. Mercury is toxic and produces hazardous waste. The present work combines the previously known use of “pencil lead” microelectrodes to extend voltammetry to the analysis of oxidizable analytes, using the new generation of inexpensive potentiostats, while avoiding the use of mercury. This substantially reduces equipment costs for undergraduate laboratories.
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Kuntz et al. (2016) studied this question.
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