Hanging mercury-drop electrodeposition technique for emission spectrographic analysis. Application to the determination of trace metals in salt solutions

Abstract

The combination of emission spectrographic analysis and controlled-potential electrolysis at a hanging mercury-drop electrode as a pre-concentration and separation technique is described. The metals are separated from the salt matrix by electrolysis on a hanging mercury-drop electrode; the mercury is transferred into a crater preformed graphite electrode and removed by evaporation, and the metals are simultaneously determined spectrographically. Many elements can be determined from a single electrochemical deposition. The method has been applied to the determination of 13 trace metals: Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl and Zn. The precision varied between 6 and 26%.