Polarographic determination of selenium in the presence of copper ion

Abstract

A polarographic method for the determination of Se in anodic slime is proposed. For this purpose several supporting electrolytes were investigated and it was found that, because of the interference from other elements present in the slime, Se could not be determined directly. In HClO₄(pH 2–3), the Cu and Se polarographic waves overlapped; the total diffusion current of this wave was measured, then the amount of Cu was determined in ammonia buffer (pH 8–9), its corresponding diffusion current was subtracted from the total diffusion current and the amount of Se was calculated.