Voltammetric Determination of 5-nitroindazole using a Bismuth Bulk Electrode

A rapid simple fabrication method for the bismuth bulk working electrode is reported using a Pasteur pipette tip filled with molten bismuth to form a disk. The applicability of the newly developed electrode was verified by differential pulse voltammetric determination of 5-nitroindazole, which is a reagent for organic synthesis. The 5-nitroindazole shows high toxicity against parasites from the Trypanosomatidae family and it is a proven mutagen for bacterial cultures. A Britton-Robinson buffer of pH 8.0 was chosen as the optimal medium for this determination. The calibration curve was measured from 2 to 100 micromoles per liter (r = −0.9989) with limits of detection and quantification of 0.20 and 0.67 micromole per liter, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of drinking and river water.