An ion chromatographic method for the separation and determination of As(II1) employing both constant and pulsed potential atnperometric detection at platinum electrodes has been compared using cylindrical wire, thin layer, and wall-jet flow cell detectors. Operational parameters such as limit of detection, linear dynamic range, stability, reproducibility, and flow rate dependence are reported for each detector cell. The different detector designs have features which make them indwidually appealing, depending on the type of application being considered and which operational parameter is most important. However, the limit of detection with the wall-jet electrode of 1 x 10-9 M is superior to the other electrode designs (this may not necessarily be the case for other analytes) and makes this the preferred method for the determination of arsenic in bottled mineral water. Additionally, a lower limit of detection is achieved with constant potential amperometric detection than is the case with pulsed potential amperometric detection, which suggests that pulsed methods may not be advantageous for the detection of species at potentials where a large background current is exhibited at very positive potentials as required for the determination of arsenic.KEY WORDS: Flow detectors, arsenic, ion chromatography.
INTUODUCTTONFlow-through electrochemical detectors are among the most popular detectors used in high performance liquid chromatography or flow-injection analysis because of their selectivity, high sensitivity, and linear response over a wide concentration range [l-131. The majority of voltammetric detectors 11-101 described to date have employed liquid mercury electrodes or solid electrodes constructed from the noble metals and various forms of carbon. Solid electrode1To whom correspondence should be addressed