General Features of Stripping Voltammetry

Voltammetric techniques that can be applied in the stripping step are staircase, pulse, differential pulse, and square-wave voltammetry. Each of them has been described in detail in previous chapters. Their common characteristic is a bell-shaped form of the response caused by the definite amount of accumulated substance. Staircase voltammetry is provided by computer-controlled instruments as a substitution for the classical linear scan voltammetry [102]. Normal pulse stripping voltammetry is sometimes called reverse pulse voltammetry. Its favorable property is the re-plating of the electroactive substance in between the pulses [103]. Differential pulse voltammetry has the most rigorously discriminating capacitive current, whereas square-wave voltammetry is the fastest stripping technique. All four techniques are insensitive to fast and reversible surface reactions in which both the reactant and product are immobilized on the electrode surface [104,105]. In all techniques mentioned above, the maximum response, or the peak current, depends linearly on the surface, or volume, concentration of the accumulated substance. The factor of this linear proportionality is the amperometric constant of the voltammetric technique. It determines the sensitivity of the method. The lowest detectable concentration of the analyte depends on the smallest peak current that can be reliably measured and on the efficacy of accumulation. For instance, in linear scan voltammetry of the reversible surface reaction i ads + ne Pads, the peak current is [52] 

In anodic stripping voltammetry of amalgams and metal deposits, there is no theoretical limit of detection of metal ions. If the accumulation potential is on the plateau of the pseudopolarogram and the solution is stirred, a steady state is established and the concentration of metal ions is linearly proportional to the duration of the accumulation  

The application of stripping voltammetry includes the measurements of metal ions and organic compounds in a variety of chemical, environmental, metallurgical, geological, biological, biochemical, pharmaceutical, and clinical materials [2, 121-123]. They are used in routine trace metal analysis of waters [124] and can serve as reliable, sensitive, and precise methods for the verification of results obtained by atomic absorption spectroscopy, or some chromatographic techniques [125]. 

Vydra F, Stulik K, Julakova E (1976) Electrochemical stripping analysis. Rllis Honvood, Chichester 

Brainina K, Neyman E (1993) Electroanalytical stripping methods. John WUey, New York Dewald HD (1996) Stripping analysis. In Vanysek P (ed) Modern techniques in electro-analysis. John Wiley, New York, p 151 

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