Determination of ppt Level Chromium(VI) Using the Gold Nano-Flakes Electrodeposited on Platinum Rotating Disk Electrode and Modified with 4-Thiopyridinium

Abstract

The nano-gold layer formed on the platinum rotating disk electrode (nano-Au/Pt-RD) inherited the catalytic property for Cr(VI) reduction from platinum surface and owned the good features of nano-gold such as insensitivity with hydrogen ion, high surface area, augmenting diffusion of Cr(VI) and ability for self-assembling with 4-pyridine-ethanethiol (PET) through Au←S linkages, to form PET/nano-Au/Pt-RD electrode capable of accumulating Cr(VI) from sample. The obtained PET/ nano-Au/Pt-RD electrode showed an extreme sensitivity to Cr(VI). By using this electrode, 1.09 ng∙L−1 was the detection limit of differential pulse adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry for Cr(VI) with the accumulation time of only 2 min. Moreover, this electrode was reproducible with 3.5% RSD for 30 times of Cr(VI) accumulating and stripping. In addition, this electrode was also selective for Cr(VI) determination, which was not almost interfered by other inorganic ions.