Voltammetric measurement of copper(II)/organic interactions in estuarine waters
Nelson, A. (1985). Voltammetric measurement of copper(II)/organic interactions in estuarine waters. Anal. Chim. Acta 169: 287-298
In: Analytica Chimica Acta. Elsevier: New York; Amsterdam. ISSN 0003-2670; e-ISSN 1873-4324, meer
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| Abstract |
The voltammetry of copper in organic ligand/chloride media is dominated by the formation of CuCl-2 species and by induced adsorption of Cu(I) in organic coatings on the electrodes. These phenomena are utilised in a novel method for evaluating Cu(II)/organic ligand interactions, based on the principle of ligand exchange. The Cu(II)/organic species competes with glycine which forms copper glycinate. These two complexes can be distinguished voltammetrically: copper glycinate gives a higher surface excess of copper at a gelatin-coated hanging mercury drop electrode, partly because of the increased production of CuCl-2 from copper glycinate at the electrode surface. The method proved satisfactory for pure ligand/surfactant/chloride media and for estuarine waters. It is shown that there are two type of Cu(II)-binding ligand in estuarine waters: humic material (> 10-6 mol l-1, assuming 1:1 site binding) with polyelectrolyte-type binding, and discrete ligands ( 10-6 M) with stability constants around 109. The extent of Cu(II) binding by the humic material decreases down the estuary because of dilution and increased salinity. |
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