Conductivity monitoring of inorganic anions with a Cu(II)-containing poly(3-methylthiophene) electrode in single-column ion chromatography

Abstract An amperometric detector unit equipped with a Cu(II)-containing poly(3-methylthiophene) working electrode is described for the single-column ion chromatographic detection of electroinactive inorganic anions, such as F − , Cl − , Br − , NO 2 − and NO 3 − . Chromatograms obtained with this unit and with a commercial conductivity detector are almost identical with regard to peak height. Thus, an amperometric unit employing this modified electrode can be used as a conductance monitor in ion chromatographic analysis. Although the responses of this electrode seem to be conductivity related, the detection principle is probably based on a dual mechanism involving equilibria between copper ions and various anions of the system in addition to simple conductivity changes associated with the passage of analyte plugs. This explains the difference in responses observed with platinum and stainless-steel electrodes used in the same cell configuration. The detector displays a linear range of at least two orders of magnitude on a logarithmic scale.