Trace determination of yttrium and some heavy rare-earths by adsorptive stripping voltammetry

The interfacial and redox behaviour of rare-earth chelates with Solochrome Violet RS are exploited for developing a sensitive adsorptive stripping procedure. Yttrium and heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, holmium and ytterbrium can thus be measured at ng ml levels and below, by controlled adsorptive accumulation of the metal chelate at the hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by voltammetric measurement of the surface species. With a 3-min preconcentration time, the detection limit ranges from 5 x 10(-10) to 1.4 x 10(-9)M. The relative standard deviation at the 7 ng ml level ranges from 4 to 7%. A separation method is required to differentiate between the individual rare-earth metals.