The present work reports on a diflerential pulse and square wave stripping voltammetric procedure for the determination of orthochlorophenol. The best conditions included using 0.1 M KOH solution, an accumulation potential of 0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl electrode, a square wave amplitude of 60mV, a frlcquency of 50Hz, a step potential of 4mV, and an initial scan potential of -1.OV. Under these conditions, determination limits of ng/rnl were achieved at a stationary glassy carbon electrode.
Keywords: Orthochlorophenol, Glassy carbon, Stripping voltammetryOrthochlorophenol is widely used in the pr(oduction of higher chlorinated phenols [I]. It is also used as an intermediate in dyestuffs [2], as a corrosion inhibitor for AJ-Cu alloys [3], in polyester printing [4], and as a preservative [S]. This compound is readily absorbed through the skin in toxic amounts, and is included in the EPA list of priority pollutants. Orthochlorophenol is slightly soluble in water and freely soluble in alcohol, ether, and caustic alkali solutions. A considerable amount of information is available regarding the stability and toxicity of this compound in the environment [6,7]. The LC50 value for orthochlorophenol ranges from 10 to 500 mg/L for aquatics.Techniques The present article reports on a square wave and differential pulse stripping voltammetric procedure for the determination of orthochlorophenol.Orthochlorophenol showed an oxidation peak (Fig. 1) using the glassy carbon electrode, which was irreversible, since there was no cathodic peak. The maximum peak current was obtained in aqueous 0.1 M KOH; in which the cyclic voltammetric peak potential varies linearly with the logarithm of i:he scan rate, i.e., Ep = 0.56 + 0.012 log V (mvjs), the intensity of the peak is ? linear function of the scan rate ( V ) , and i , is proportional to V' for an orthochloryphenol concentration of 10 mM. The current function (ip/ACVF) value increases initially and then decreases in 0.1 M KOH for a scan rate change from 25 mV/s to 250 mV/s. The height of the peak decreases as the sweep cycle increases. This clearly points to adsorption. To confirm ;the results found in the cyclic voltammetry (CV) assays mentioned above, the voltammetric experiments were carried out using the square wave technique, maintaining the amplitude at 25 mV, the step potential at 4mV, and modifying the frequency used. Similar proportionalities were observed. In KOH Ep is directly proportional to the logarithm of the frequency, i.e., Ep = 0.54 + 0.015 log v, and ip is directly proportional to the square root of the frequency. The log ip vs. log V plot yielded a slope of 0.66 in an aqueous alkaline medium.This kind of behavior is associated with diffusion-controlled adsorption in an aqueous alkaline medium, as reported by Osteryoung [ 191. Adsorption of the orthochlorophenol molecule was confirmed by the observation of double potential step chronocoulometric behavior on varying the final potential. The potential of the glassy carbon electrode was stepped from an initial E = 0.0 V t...