Speciation of antimony by adsorptive stripping voltammetry using pyrogallol

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Electrochemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Accurate determination of antimony (Sb) speciation is crucial for environmental and health assessments.
• Existing methods for differentiating Sb(III) and Sb(V) can be complex or lack sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a sensitive and reliable method for simultaneous determination of Sb(III) and Sb(V).
• To apply the developed method for antimony speciation in real-world samples like pharmaceuticals and water.

Main Methods:

• Differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV) utilizing pyrogallol as a complexing agent.
• Experimental design methodology for optimizing measurement conditions.
• Partial least squares regression (PLS) for resolving overlapping voltammetric signals of Sb(III) and Sb(V).

Main Results:

• Achieved low detection limits of 1.03x10⁻¹⁰ mol dm⁻³ for Sb(III) and 9.48x10⁻⁹ mol dm⁻³ for Sb(V).
• Demonstrated high accuracy with a relative error less than 0.5% for simultaneous determination.
• Validated the procedure's effectiveness in analyzing pharmaceutical preparations and water samples, considering potential interference from foreign ions.

Conclusions:

• The developed DPAdSV method with pyrogallol offers a sensitive and accurate approach for antimony speciation.
• The use of PLS enables reliable simultaneous determination of Sb(III) and Sb(V) in complex matrices.
• This method provides a valuable tool for monitoring antimony levels in environmental and pharmaceutical contexts.