The boron-doped diamond for an all-in-one system of mineralization and detection of lead in waters

International audienceBoron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes were used in a single-compartment electrochemical cell including the degradation of organic matter (OM) and the detection of lead in water. Using sulfuric acid as electrolyte, the mineralization step was almost complete after 20 min under galvanostatic electrolysis conditions whatever the OM (i.e. phenol or humic acid (HA)). Nevertheless, H2SO4 was not suitable for samples containing Pb(II) since it induces PbSO4 precipitation. On the another hand, the use of HNO3 resulted in a decrease in the HA degradation yield down to 30 % but still 90 % for phenol without any interference with respect to lead detection. Under these latter experimental conditions, the assay of Pb(II) was performed by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). The BDD electrode exhibited a linear response in the range 1 – 10 ppm with a normalized sensitivity of 2.66 nC ppm-1 min-1. Accurate results were obtained in solutions containing 20 ppm phenol, compared to reference technique analysi