Electrode Modified with Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) Film of Calixarenes for Preconcentration and Stripping Analysis of Hg(II)

A new type of current sensor, Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) film of calixarene on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was prepared for determination of mercury by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). An anodic stripping peak was obtained at 0.15 V (vs. SCE) by scanning the potential from −0.6 to +0.6 V. Compared with a bare GCE, the LB film coated electrode greatly improves the sensitivity of measuring mercury ion. The fabricated electrode in a 0.1 M H 2 SO 4 +0.01 M HCl solution shows a linear voltammetric response in the range of 0.07–40 μg L −1 and detection limit of 0.04 μg L −1 (ca. 2×10 −10  M). The high sensitivity, selectivity, and stability of this LB film modified electrode demonstrates its practical application for a simple, rapid and economical determination of Hg 2+ in a water sample.