Alternating current anodic stripping voltammetry in the study of cadmium complexation by a reference Suwannee river fulvic acid: a model case with strong electrode adsorption and weak binding.

The possibilities of anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) using an alternating current (AC) scan in the stripping step have been checked through the study of the complexation of cadmium by Suwannee river fulvic acid (SRFA), a reference fulvic acid from the International Humic Substances Society. Because of the strong electrode adsorption of SRFA, AC mode appears to be a good approach to the study when proper selection of the phase angle is made. The goodness of AC mode in ASV has been demonstrated, and the complexation constant of 3.71 +/- 0.04 determined is in good agreement with the value of the constant obtained by the reference technique of reverse pulse polarography. Some particularities of SRFA have been observed, among them its homofunctional and strongly heterogeneous behaviour in cadmium complexation and the impossibility of avoiding electrode adsorption problems in ASV measurements at very low metal concentrations. Figure DP anodic stripping and AC anodic stripping voltammograms at -12 degrees and -65 degrees during the titration of a 10(-7) mol L(-1) Cd(II) solution with SRFA at pH 7.5 in 0.05 L(-1) Tris.