Studies of the application of overoxidised polypyrrole films in anodic stripping voltammetry

Abstract

Overoxidised polypyrrole (OPPY) films have been evaluated for application in anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) at mercury film electrodes (MFEs). The results presented indicate that such films possess the ability to prevent surfactant adsorption on the MFE surface and allow direct ASV determination of heavy metals in solutions containing proteins or other surfactants. This ability is attributed to the size-discriminating properties of OPPY which allow the small inorganic heavy metal ions to be transported across the polymer film while excluding the larger surfactant molecules.