Catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetry determination of ultra trace amount of tungsten using factorial design for optimization

A highly sensitive procedure is presented for the determination of ultra-trace concentration of tungsten by catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetry. The method is based on adsorptive accumulation of the tungsten-pyrocatechol violet complex onto a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by reduction of the adsorbed species by voltammetric scan using differential pulse modulation. The reduction current is enhanced catalytically by chlorate. The influence of variables was completely studied by factorial design analysis. Optimum analytical conditions for the determination of tungsten were established. Tungsten can be determined in the range 0.06–12.0 ng/mL with a limit of detection of 0.02 ng/mL. The influence of potentially interfering ions on the determination of tungsten was studied. The procedure was applied to the determination of tungsten in one sandwich polyoxometalate and some synthetic samples similar to alloy compounds with satisfactory results.