Voltammetric Determination of 4-Nitrobiphenyl at a Mercury Meniscus Modified Silver Solid Amalgam Electrode

The presented bachelor thesis is devoted to study of electrochemical behavior of 4-nitrobiphenyl (4-NBP) and to finding of optimum conditions for its' determination using direct current voltammetry (DCV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at a mercury meniscus modified silver solid amalgam electrode (m-AgSAE). The aim was to achieve the lowest possible limit of determination and to verify the applicability of the newly developed method for determination of 4-NBP in model samples of drinking water. Methanol-acetate buffer pH 4,8 (3:7) was found as an optimum medium for the determination of 4 NBP at a m-AgSAE in deionized water. During DCV it is not necessary to apply electrochemical regeneration of the working electrode, during DPV it is proper to apply following regeneration potentials: Ereg,1 = 0 mV, Ereg,2 = -1300 mV. The concentration dependence of the peak current was found to be linear for both methods for 10-5, 10-6 and 10-7 mol∙l-1 concentration ranges. The limit of determination of 4-NBP both by DCV and by DPV is 2∙10-7 mol∙l-1. The optimum medium for the determination of 4-NBP in drinking water is the mixture of the sample and acetate buffer pH 4,8 in the 9:1 ratio.. During DCV regeneration was not applied, during DPV it was applied with the following regeneration potentials: Ereg,1..