Determination of metal ion binding parameters for humic substances

Organic Copper Speciation by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry in Estuarine Waters With High Dissolved Organic Matter

The determination of copper (Cu) speciation and its bioavailability in natural waters is an important issue due to its specific role as an essential micronutrient but also a toxic element at elevated concentrations. Here, we report an improved anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) method for organic Cu speciation, intended to eliminate the important problem of surface-active substances (SAS) interference on the voltammetric signal, hindering measurements in samples with high organic matter concentration. The method relies on the addition of nonionic surfactant Triton-X-100 (T-X-100) at a concentration of 1 mg L^-1. T-X-100 competitively inhibits the adsorption of SAS on the Hg electrode, consequently 1) diminishing SAS influence during the deposition step and 2) strongly improving the shape of the stripping Cu peak by eliminating the high background current due to the adsorbed SAS, making the extraction of Cu peak intensities much more convenient. Performed tests revealed that the addition of T-X-100, in the concentration used here, does not have any influence on the determination of Cu complexation parameters and thus is considered "interference-free." The method was tested using fulvic acid as a model of natural organic matter and applied for the determination of Cu speciation in samples collected in the Arno River estuary (Italy) (in spring and summer), characterized by a high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (up to 5.2 mgC L^-1) and anthropogenic Cu input during the tourist season (up to 48 nM of total dissolved Cu). In all the samples, two classes of ligands (denoted as L₁ and L₂) were determined in concentrations ranging from 3.5 ± 2.9 to 63 ± 4 nM eq Cu for L₁ and 17 ± 4 to 104 ± 7 nM eq Cu for L₂, with stability constants logK _Cu,1 = 9.6 ± 0.2-10.8 ± 0.6 and logK _Cu,2 = 8.2 ± 0.3-9.0 ± 0.3. Different linear relationships between DOC and total ligand concentrations between the two seasons suggest a higher abundance of organic ligands in the DOM pool in spring, which is linked to a higher input of terrestrial humic substances into the estuary. This implies that terrestrial humic substances represent a significant pool of Cu-binding ligands in the Arno River estuary.

Pseudopolarography of copper complexes in seawater using a vibrating gold microwire electrode

Copper (Cu) in seawater can be determined by anodic stripping voltammetry using a vibrating gold microwire electrode (VGME) with a much lower limit of detection than using a mercury electrode, enabling detection of labile Cu at trace level. The possibility of pseudopolarography of Cu using the VGME is investigated here and is calibrated against known chelating agents. The sensitivity much (15-fold) improved by application of a desorption step to remove adsorbed organic substances and excess anions. The notorious tendency of solid electrodes to be affected by memory effects was overcome by a conditioning interval between measurements that stabilized the electrode response. Model ligands, including EDTA, humic substances (HS), and glutathione (examples of natural ligands) were analyzed to calibrate the half-wave shift to complex stability. The half-wave shift on the VGME is much greater (~2×) than that on the mercury drop electrode which is attributed to several parameters including a much (5-fold) thinner diffusion layer on the VGME. Experiments showed that the same procedure is suitable for pseudopolarography of zinc. Application of the new method to samples from the Irish Sea showed Cu occurring in several complexes, all strongly bound, and some occurring in the electrochemically reversible region of the pseudopolarogram. The humic substance complex of Cu was also found to occur in the reversible region of the pseudopolarogram. The pseudopolarograms of Cu in seawater were unaffected by sample filtration and did not require purging to remove dissolved oxygen, suggesting that this method can be readily used as part of an in situ measuring system.

Pb uptake by the marine mussel Mytilus sp. Interactions with dissolved organic matter

It is well known that dissolved organic matter binds metal ions and buffers them in natural waters. Although it is believed that a decrease in metal ion concentration should lead to a decrease in metal bioavailability, previous work has shown that Pb uptake by Mytilus edulis gills is greatly enhanced in the presence of humic acids. In the present work, the effect of more soluble organic matter (fulvic acids and DOM extracted from river) on Pb uptake by mussels and their gills is studied. Pb complexation by these organic substances was measured by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) and it is proven that Pb uptake by mussel gills in the presence of fulvic acids can be successfully predicted according to ASV-labile Pb concentrations. However, Pb uptake by whole mussels in the presence of river DOM is slightly higher than predicted on the basis of ASV measurements. The possible reasons leading to different effects of DOM on Pb uptake by mussels are discussed according to physicochemical properties of DOM.

Study of interactions of concentrated marine dissolved organic matter with copper and zinc by pseudopolarography

The interaction of dissolved organic matter (DOM) with copper and zinc in a concentrated seawater sample was characterised by pseudopolarography. Measurements performed at increased concentrations of copper(II) ions showed successive saturation of active DOM sites which indicate possible partition of copper between (i) free or labile complexes, (ii) reduced and released within the potential window of the method, and (iii) electroinactive copper complexes. Pseudopolarograms measured at pH 4 indicate a release of copper which was bound to the active sites of DOM that formed non-labile complexes. Variation of the peak position and half-peak width along the scanned deposition potentials and with the increasing concentration of copper bear the information about the complex electrochemical processes at the electrode surface and in the bulk of the solution. Pseudopolarograms of zinc showed a strong dependence of the peak current and the peak position along the scanned deposition potentials on pH values, indicating preferentially complexation of zinc with carboxylic-like active sites of DOM in the measured sample. Pseudopolarography is a valuable method in the trace metal complexation and speciation studies, serving as a fingerprint of the analysed sample.

Speciation of trace metals in natural waters: the influence of an adsorbed layer of natural organic matter (NOM) on voltammetric behaviour of copper

The influence of an adsorbed layer of the natural organic matter (NOM) on voltammetric behaviour of copper on a mercury drop electrode in natural water samples was studied. The adsorption of NOM strongly affects the differential pulse anodic stripping voltammogram (DPASV) of copper, leading to its distortion. Phase sensitive ac voltammetry confirmed that desorption of adsorbed NOM occurs in general at accumulation potentials more negative than -1.4V. Accordingly, an application of negative potential (-1.6V) for a very short time at the end of the accumulation time (1% of total accumulation time) to remove the adsorbed NOM was introduced in the measuring procedure. Using this protocol, a well-resolved peak without interferences was obtained. It was shown that stripping chronopotentiogram of copper (SCP) in the depletive mode is influenced by the adsorbed layer in the same manner as DPASV. The influence of the adsorbed NOM on pseudopolarographic measurements of copper and on determination of copper complexing capacity (CuCC) was demonstrated. A shift of the peak potential and the change of the half-peak width on the accumulation potential (for pseudopolarography) and on copper concentration in solution (for CuCC) were observed. By applying a desorption step these effects vanished, yielding different final results.

A comparison between the determination of free Pb(II) by two techniques: Absence of gradients and Nernstian equilibrium stripping and resin titration

Absence of gradients and Nernstian equilibrium stripping (AGNES) is an emerging electroanalytical technique designed to measure free metal ion concentration. The practical implementation of AGNES requires a critical selection of the deposition time, which can be drastically reduced if the contribution of the complexes is properly taken into account. The resin titration (RT) is a competition method based on the sorption of metal ions on a complexing resin. The competitor here considered is the resin Chelex 100 whose sorbing properties towards Pb(II) are well known. The RT is a consolidated technique especially suitable to perform an intercomparison with AGNES, due to its independent physicochemical nature. Two different ligands for Pb(II) complexation have been analyzed here: nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PDCA). The complex PbNTA is practically inert in the diffusion layer, so, for ordinary deposition potentials, its contribution is almost negligible; however, at potentials more negative than -0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl the complex dissociates on the electrodic surface giving rise to a second wave in techniques such as normal pulse polarography. The complex Pb-PDCA is partially labile, so that its contribution can be estimated from an expression of the lability degree of the complex. These new strategies allow us to reduce the deposition time. The free Pb(II) concentrations obtained by AGNES and by RT are in full agreement for both systems here considered. The main advantage of the use of AGNES in these systems lies in the reduction of the time of the experiment, while RT can be applied to non-amalgamating elements and offers the possibility of simultaneous determinations.

Simultaneous determination of speciation parameters of Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn in model solutions of Suwannee River fulvic acid by pseudopolarography

There is a growing awareness of the importance of quantitative determinations of speciation parameters of the trace metals Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in aqueous samples containing chemically heterogeneous humic substances, especially when they are present together, interacting with one another and competing for specific binding sites of the humic substances. Such determinations require fundamental knowledge and understanding of these complex interactions, gained through basic laboratory-based studies of well-characterized humic substances in model solutions. Since the chemical heterogeneity of humic substances plays an important role in the thermodynamics (stability) and kinetics (lability) of trace metal competition for humic substances, a metal speciation technique such as pseudopolarography that can reveal the special, distinctive nature of metal complexation is required, and it was therefore used in this study. A comparison of the heterogeneity parameters (Gamma) for Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) complexes in model solutions of Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) shows that GammaCd>GammaZn>GammaPb>GammaCu, suggesting that SRFA behaves as a relatively homogeneous complexant for Zn(II) and Cd(II), whereas it behaves as a relatively heterogeneous complexant for Pb(II) and an even more heterogeneous complexant for Cu(II) under the experimental conditions used. The order of values of log K* (from the differential equilibrium function, DEF) for the trace metals at pH 5.0 follow the sequence: log K*Cu>log K*Pb>log K*Zn>log K*Cd. These results are in good agreement with the literature values. The results of this work suggest the possibility of simultaneously determining several metals in a sample in a single experiment, and hence in a shorter time than required for multiple experiments.

The role of organic matter on metal toxicity and bio-availability

A short review concerning the role of organic matter on metal toxicity and bio-availability in aqueous systems is carried out. The complexity of the issue derives both from the high number of natural and anthropogenic organic compounds and from the variability of their structures. In fact, the binding capacity and affinity is dependent on the number and type of ligands, on their position in the structures, on the ligand/metal ratio. It is also necessary to develop analytical protocol in order to carry out speciation studies of organic carbon and of metals bound to organic compounds, and at the same time to characterise the nature of the complexes.

The effect of pH, ion strength and reactant content on the complexation of Cu2+ by various natural organic ligands from water and soil in Hong Kong

The complexation constants for copper associated with different natural organic ligands, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) extracted from water, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), fulvic acid (FA) and humic acid (HA) from soil, were determined and then compared based on discrete single site model. Both ion-selective electrode (ISE) and anodic stripping voltammetry were used to determine the content of free copper ions, while the relative number of complexation sites was estimated using a fluorescence quenching (FQ) at the same time. ISE proved to be the most applicable technique when the concentration of copper was above 10(-7) moll(-1). The logk values for two WSOC sample sites (Song Ziyuan and Xin Niangtan) were 4.64 and 4.66; higher than both the DOC and HA values yet lower than the FA values, which were unusually high due to unavoidable pollution from the cation exchange resin used during the purification process. Binding affinities between the copper ions and the organic ligands obtained from streams in Yong Wei (DOC) and Song Ziyuan (WSOC) were influenced by pH, ion strength, and reactant concentration. Values for logk increased with increases in pH (ion strength of 0.1 N). At pH 4, the logk values decreased with increases in the supporting electrolyte concentration and total copper ion additions.

Kinetic speciation of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) in model solutions and freshwaters: lability and the d electron configuration

The kinetic speciation of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) in model solutions of a well-characterized fulvic acid (Laurentian fulvic acid), freshwater samples from the Rideau River (Ottawa, Ontario), and freshwater samples from the Sudbury (Ontario) area were investigated by the competing ligand exchange method using Chelex 100 as the competing ligand and by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to measure the dissociation kinetics. The metal species were quantitatively characterized by the rate coefficient for the first-order dissociation of metal complex to free metal ion. This technique can be applied to almost all elements and represents an important advance in our ability to investigate the kinetic availability of metal species in the freshwater environment. The order of the lability of the metal complexes, Co(II) > Ni(II) > Cu(II) < Zn(II), follows the reverse order of the ligand field stabilization energy with the exception of Cu(II); the behavior of Cu(II) is also due to the Jahn-Teller effect, which shortens the equatorial bonds and lengthens the axial bonds of a tetragonally distorted Cu(II)-L6 complex. This study has demonstrated a relationship between the lability of metal-DOM complexes of the 3d transition metals in freshwaters and their d electron configuration. This is the first time that the importance of the d electron configuration on the lability of metal complexes in the freshwater environment has been demonstrated. The slow complexation kinetics of both Ni(II) and Cu(II) suggestthatthe usual equilibrium assumption for freshwaters may be invalid.

Implications of natural organic matter binding heterogeneity on understanding lead(II) complexation in aquatic systems

A critical analysis of data published for complexation (conditional stability constants and complexation capacities) of lead(II) by natural organic matter (NOM) is presented. The same patterns are observed for the different types of NOM, i.e. isolated humic-type substances, isolated algae- and bacteria derived ligands and cell walls, and filtered whole water systems: apparent stronger binding sites are utilised at lower metal ion loadings, progressively weaker sites contribute to metal complexation at higher loadings. Continuous binding functions should thus be used to adequately describe lead-NOM complexation in natural waters. Two important observations arising from our analysis are that: (i) the binding curves (binding affinity as a function of metal ion loading) for whole natural water samples lie between those for compounds representative of the two main NOM types, viz., isolated humic compounds and biota, and (ii) binding constants commonly used in speciation codes probably underestimate the actual extent of lead(II) binding by NOM at natural concentration levels.