Amperometric detection studies of Nafion/indium hexacyanoferrate film for the determination of electroinactive cations in ion chromatography

Abstract

An amperometric detector based on the chemical modification of Nafion and indium (III) hexacyanoferrate (II, III) thin film (Nafion/In-CN-Fe) onto a glassy carbon (GC) electrode, was first successfully used for the determination of electroinactive cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺, NH₄ ⁺) in single column ion chromatography (IC). A set of well-defined peaks of electroinactive cations was obtained. The detection limits of the cations are 8.9 × 10^–6 mol/L for Li⁺, 2.3 × 10^–6 mol/L for Na⁺, 5.2 × 10^–6 mol/L for K⁺, 4.8 × 10^–6 mol/L for Rb⁺, 4.0 ׶10^–6 mol/L for Cs⁺ and 5.3 × 10^–6 mol/L for NH₄ ⁺ at a single-to-noise ratio of 3. The proposed method was quick, sensitive and simple. The cations in rainwater and mineral water were successfully analyzed by this method.