A.Scandurra a, M. Urso a, M.G.Grimaldi a ,b and S. Mirabella a, b
a Department of Physics and Astronomy of Catania University "Ettore Majorana"; b CNR-IMM, via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy
There is a huge demand of rapid and reliable analysis of heavy metals in drinking water, particularly in the ppb range. In the present work we describe the preparation and characterization of working electrodes to be employed in Square Wave Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (SWASV) for the ultra-trace analysis determination of two of the most poisonous metal (Pb and Cd) in drinking water. The electrodes consist of graphene paper-perfluorosulfonic ionomer-Bi composite nanomaterials showing a detection limit up to 0.03 ppb for Pb2+ and 0.11 ppb for Cd2+, respectively. The electrode preparation method is simple and low cost and the obtained analytical performance is very competitive with the state of art for the detection of Pb2+ and Cd2+ in solution.
Antonino Scandurra received his graduation degree in chemistry in 1988 at the Catania University, Italy. He is authors of about 80 research papers in the field of material science and nanotechnology applied to microelectronics, sensors and biosensors. He has been a senior scientist at the Consorzio Catania Ricerche (Italy) since 1993 until 2015. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Material Science and Nanotechnology course at Catania University.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy "Ettore Majorana" of the University of Catania supplies resources, instrumentation, and support towards both fundamental and applied research in physical sciences. It promotes teaching and the dissemination of physics, and coordinates initiatives aimed at developing scientific research and its applications. The Department is naturally oriented towards internationalization, both as an institution, and especially through the international collaborations of its members and the research groups thereof. To this aim, the Department is a partner of both foreign universities and research institutions.
