Sampled Polarography

Current-Sampled Polarography. As follows from the Ilkovic equation [Eq. (3.10)], the current at the electrode that results from the electrolysis of an electroactive species (Faradaic current) increases proportionally to tU6 during the life of the mercury drop. However, the electrical double layer is a capacitor that must be charged as potential is applied via a charging current (icc) 

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Figure 3.30 (A) Current-time curves illustrating the sampling sequence for current-sampled polarography if, diffusion-controlled faradaic current id), double-layer charging current it = if + idl. (B) Current-sampled polarogram.

Current-sampled polarography offers only a marginal improvement on the sensitivity of the classic method because there is a more favorable faradaic-to-charging-current ratio at the end of the drop time when the drop is almost stationary. Thus, its only real benefit over the classic method is the clearer polarogram obtained. 

This part has a very different purpose to the previous parts which have concentrated on the details of polarography itself. An attempt will be made to place polarography and other voltammetric techniques in the full perspective of the analytical environment with real samples. Polarography, spectroscopy etc are not in themselves analytical methods but merely one step in a totally integrated multistep procedure. Other steps used in conjunction with polarography will be discussed. 

Potential-excitation signals and voltammograms for (a) normal pulse polarography, (b) differential pulse polarography, (c) staircase polarography, and (d) square-wave polarography. See text for an explanation of the symbols. Current is sampled at the time intervals indicated by the solid circles ( ). 

Miscellaneous Samples Besides environmental and clinical samples, differential pulse polarography and stripping voltammetry have been used for the analysis of trace metals in other samples, including food, steels and other alloys, gasoline, gunpowder residues, and pharmaceuticals. Voltammetry is also an important tool for... 

Zinc smelters use x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to analyze for zinc and many other metals in concentrates, calcines, residues, and trace elements precipitated from solution, such as arsenic, antimony, selenium, tellurium, and tin. X-ray analysis is also used for quaUtative and semiquantitative analysis. Electrolytic smelters rely heavily on AAS and polarography for solutions, residues, and environmental samples. 

Various types of analyses can be made on spot samples to determine batch uniformity. These coiild include x-ray fluorescence, flame spec-trometiy, polarography, emission spec troscopy, and so on, depending... 

Standard addition. A known amount of the constituent being determined is added to the sample, which is then analysed for the total amount of constituent present. The difference between the analytical results for samples with and without the added constituent gives the recovery of the amount of added constituent. If the recovery is satisfactory our confidence in the accuracy of the procedure is enhanced. The method is usually applied to physico-chemical procedures such as polarography and spectrophotometry. 

An important feature of pulse polarography is the sampling of the current at definite points in the lifetime of the mercury drop, and it is essential to... 

The Production Department was not amused, because lower values had been expected. Quality Control was blamed for using an insensitive, unse-lective, and imprecise test, and thereby unnecessarily frightening top management. This outcome had been anticipated, and a better method, namely polarography, was already being set up. The same samples were run, this time in duplicate, with much the same results. A relative confidence interval of 25% was assumed. Because of increased specificity, there were now less doubts as to the amounts of this particular heavy metal that were actually present. To rule out artifacts, the four samples were sent to outside laboratories to do repeat tests with different methods X-ray fluorescence (XRFi °) and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP). The confidence limits were determined to be 10% resp. 3%. Figure 4.23 summarizes the results. Because each method has its own specificity pattern, and is subject to intrinsic artifacts, a direct statistical comparison cannot be performed without first correcting the apparent concentrations in order to obtain presumably true... 

Principles and Characteristics Contrary to poten-tiometric methods that operate under null conditions, other electrochemical methods impose an external energy source on the sample to induce chemical reactions that would not otherwise occur spontaneously. It is thus possible to analyse ions and organic compounds that can either be reduced or oxidised electrochemi-cally. Polarography, which is a division of voltammetry, involves partial electrolysis of the analyte at the working electrode. 

Current-sampled DC and often are used in voltammetry superimposed AC polarography... 

In practice, derivative polarography must be carried out on a smooth curve such as is obtained in current-sampled, current-averaged or rapid DC... 

It is clear, that the various modes of LSV at the dme require an integrated and coherent regulation of sweep time, current sampling and drop knocking, preferably by an electronic device and on with computer guidance. A disadvantage of LSV. at the dme, in contrast to normal DC polarography, is that for mixtures of components the latter yields a simple evaluation by curve extrapolation on the basis of additivity [see Fig. 3.34(a)], whereas the former suffers from an uncertain evaluation [see Fig. 3.34(b)],... 

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