Voltammetric determination of copper and zinc in water using a Ruthenium bipyridyl/Nafion-modified indium tin oxide-coated glass electrode

Chemically-modified Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates were fabricated by depositing Nafion thin films doped with tris (2,2’-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) dichloride hexahydrate via drop coating deposition technique. The Nafion volume concentration in the film is 1% (v/v) and the mediator concentration is 5 mg per 1 mL Nafion. The chemically-modified electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and were used as working electrodes to detect varying concentrations of copper (Cu2+) and zinc (Zn2+) in a 0.1 M NaCl supporting electrolyte solution via Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV). Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions were successfully determined by ASV. The limits of detection for Cu2+ and Zn2+ were 0.1 ppm and 0.7 ppm, respectively. The modified electrodes were used to determine the presence of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in different real water samples. The presence of Cu2+ was successfully determined in deep well, lake, and tap water samples, while the presence of Zn2+ was successfully determined in sea and tap water samples. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) results confirm the presence of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in the samples.