Determination of mercury by electrochemical cold vapor generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry using polyaniline modified graphite electrode as cathode

An electrochemical cold vapor generation system with polyaniline modified graphite electrode as cathode material was developed for Hg (II) determination by coupling with atomic fluorescence spectrometry. This electrochemical cold vapor generation system with polyaniline/graphite electrode exhibited higher sensitivity: excellent stability and lower memory effect compared with graphite electrode electrochemical cold vapor generation system. The relative standard deviation was 2.7% for eleven consecutive measurements of 2 ng mL(-1) Hg (II) standard solution and the mercury limit of detection for the sample blank solution was 1.3 pg mL(-1) (3 sigma). The accuracy of the method was evaluated through analysis of the reference materials GBW09101 (Human hair) and GBW 08517 (Laminaria Japonica Aresch) and the proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of human hairs. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.