ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode
as Sensitive and Selective Green Electroanalytical
Tool for Heavy Metals Environmental Monitoring:
Zinc Detection in Rubber Industry Waste
Eva Culková1, Ľubomír Švorc2, Peter Tomčík1, Jaroslav Durdiak1, Miroslav Rievaj2,
Dušan Bustin2, Roman Brescher3, Ján Lokaj4,5
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1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Education, Catholic University in Ružomberok,
Hrabovská cesta 1, 034 01 Ružomberok, Slovak Republic
2 Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology,
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
3 Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o., Terézie Vansovej 1054,
020 01 Púchov, Slovak Republic
4 Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Technology and Materials, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava,
Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
5 Department of Material Engineering, Faculty of Material Science and Technology,
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Paulinska 16, 917 24 Trnava, Slovak Republic
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(5):1317-1323
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
A simple and sensitive electroanalytical technique for the detection and quantification of zinc has been
developed that demonstrates beneficial analytical features of boron-doped diamond electrode. The influence of
deposition potential on the stripping peak current of zinc was studied, and optimum value of -1.7 V vs.
Ag/AgCl electrode was chosen. Optical and atomic force microscopic studies showed that the mechanism of
deposition process is governed by nucleation by which first nanoparticles and then grains of zinc are formed.
The detection limit of 4.7×10-10 mol·l-1 , good repeatability (relative standard deviation of 3.2%) as well as wide
linear dynamic range from 5×10-10 to 5×10-6 mol·l-1 were obtained in 0.1 mol·l-1 KCl for deposition time of 120 s.
Interference from other heavy metals such as Hg2+ , Cu2+ , Pb2+ , and Cd2+ do not significantly influence anodic
stripping peak of zinc even in a 100-fold excess. The method was applied in analysis of zinc in environmen-
tal rubber industry samples with results in good agreement with those obtained by atomic absorption spec-
trometry, confirming that the boron-doped diamond electrode is an excellent sensing tool for heavy metals
environmental monitoring.