Flow-through coulometry as a calibrationless method in inorganic trace analysis

Abstract 

The possibility of calibration-less determination of trace concentrations of some electrochemically active elements such as Ag, As, Cd, Hg, Pb, etc. by flow-through coulometry is described. The analyte species are collected quantitative-ly from the flowing sample solution on a porous working electrode made of vi- treous carbon particles set at either a constant potential or constant current. The deposit is stripped by a constant current in the next step and the correspond- ing electrical charge is measured and evaluated. The analyte concentration is calculated by making use of the com- bined Faraday’s laws of electrolysis. The method exerts detection limits about 1 µg/l or lower and a linear concentration range over 3 orders of magnitude.