Anodic stripping voltammetric determination of silver ion at a carbon paste electrode modified with carbon nanotubes

A carbon paste electrode (CPE) was modified with multi-wall carbon nanotubes and successfully applied to the determination of silver ion by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. Compared to a conventional CPE, a remarkably improved peak current response and sensitivity is observed. The analytical procedure consisted of an open circuit accumulation step for 2 min in −0.4 V, this followed by an anodic potential scan between +0.2 and + 0.6 V to obtain the voltammetric peak. The oxidation peak current is proportional to the concentration of silver ion in the range from 1.0 × 10−8 to 1.0 × 10−5 mol L−1, with a detection limit of 1.8 × 10−9 mol L−1 after an accumulation time of 120 s. The relative standard deviation for 7 successive determinations of Ag(I) at 0.1 μM concentration is 1.99%. The procedure was validated by determining Ag(I) in natural waters.