Development of a voltammetric method for the determination of iron(III) in Zn-Fe alloy galvanic baths.

A square wave voltammetric method with a static mercury drop electrode (SMDE) was developed for the quantitative determination of iron (III) in Zn-Fe alloy galvanic baths. Real alloy bath samples were analyzed by the standard addition method and recovery tests were carried out. 0.50 mol L-1 sodium citrate (pH 6.0) or 0.20 mol L-1 oxalic acid (pH 4.0) were applied as supporting electrolytes resulting in both cases in a peak potential of about -0.20 V vs. AgIAgCl (saturated KCl). The iron (III) concentration in the alloy bath was 9.0 x 10(-4) mol L-1. A good correlation (r = 0.9999) was achieved between the iron (III) concentration and the peak current in the electrolytes studied, with linear response ranges from 1.0 x 10(-6) to 1.2 x 10(-4) mol L-1. Interference levels for some metals such as copper (II), lead (II), chromium (III) and manganese (II) that can hinder the Zn-Fe alloy deposition were evaluated; only copper (II) interferes seriously.