Fabrication of a new multi-walled carbon nanotube paste electrode for stripping voltammetric determination of Ag(I).

A new modified carbon paste electrode based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and a synthesized Schiff base of N,N'-bis(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-2,2'(aminophenylthio) ethane, acting as a chelating agent for Ag(I) ions, is described. The electroanalytical procedure for the determination of Ag(I) was comprised of two steps: the chemical accumulation of the analyte under open-circuit conditions followed by replacing the medium with a 0.1 M HCl solution where the accumulated Ag(I) was reduced for 20 s in -0.7 V. The potential was then scanned from -0.2 to +0.2 V to obtain the voltammetric peak. The effective parameters in the sensor response were examined. Under optimized operational conditions, a linear response range from 0.5-200 ng mL(-1) was obtained. The detection limit for silver determination was 0.092 ng mL(-1). For 7 successive determinations of 15.0 and 60.0 ng mL(-1) of Ag(I), relative standard deviations of 2.2% and 1.2% were obtained, respectively. The procedure was applied in determining Ag(I) in X-ray photographic films and water samples.