Electroanalysis at modified carbon-paste electrodes containing natural ionic polysaccharides

The strong affinity of natural ionic polysaccharides for certain metal ions is exploited in the design of a new class of voltammetric sensing devices. In particular, carbon-paste electrodes containing pectic and alginic acids are used for the nonelectrolytic collection and subsequent voltammetric determination of copper and lead, respectively. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry are used to quantify the accumulated ions. The response is characterized with respect to modifier loading, preconcentration period, metal concentration, reproducibility, possible interferences and other variables. Titrimetric experiments illustrate the potential of polysaccharide electrodes for speciation work. Preliminary data are also given for analogous measurements of copper at heparin-modified electrodes. Detection limits are 1 μg/ml and the relative standard deviation is 4.8%.