Site synthesis of bismuth nanoparticles for electrochemical determination of lead

A report is presented on a novel and effective route to synthesise bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs) on the electrode surface, which was carried out by ion-exchange in Nafion film coated on the electrode surface and subsequent electrochemical reduction of Bi3+ ions to BiNPs on site. The properties of the resulting BiNPs modified electrode were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, an energy dispersive X-ray micro-analyser and electrochemistry. Almost 10 nm BiNPs were decorated in the matrix of Nafion film and showed excellent electrochemical activity. The BiNPs modified electrode has been successfully used for determination of Pb2+ by anodic stripping voltammetry with a linear range of 1.0-90 nM. The detection limit is 0.3 nM with 5 min accumulation. The practical application of this modified electrode was carried out for determination of Pb2+ in water samples and the results were consistent with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.