Sonoelectroanalysis--an overview.

The coupling of power-ultrasound with well established but under-exploited electrochemical stripping voltammetry has led to the emergence of a powerful new analytical technique--sonoelectroanalysis. Where classical electroanalytical techniques were plagued with electrode-fouling and/or sensitivity limitations, the introduction of ultrasound into the system has given great increases in analytical efficiency and substrate applicability, predominantly through enhanced mass transport and electrode surface activation. This revitalised analytical technology has been applied to a range of modern analytical problems, allowing sensitive determination of a wide number of analytes from a variety of otherwise hostile matrices, including copper in beer and blood, lead in wine, petrol and river bed sediment, vanadium in aqueous media, nitrite in egg and manganese in instant tea granules. This paper gives an overview of these recent advances.