Electrocatalytic Oxidation and Voltammetric Determination of Hydrazine in Industrial Boiler Feed Water Using a Cobalt Phthalocyanine-modified Electrode

Abstract

A carbon paste electrode modified with cobalt phthalocyanine (CPECoPc) was developed and applied to the determination of hydrazine [N₂H₄] in industrial boiler feed water. The CPECoPc exhibited good electrocatalytical activity for hydrazine oxidation at pH 13. A linear correlation was obtained between anodic peak current (I_ap) and hydrazine concentration in the range of 1.25 × 10⁻⁴ to 9.80 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹, fit by the equation I_ap = 1.47 + 4.90 × 10⁵ [N₂H₄] with a correlation coefficient of 0.9967. A detection limit of 7.35 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ was obtained. Recovery of hydrazine from three samples ranged between 99.0% and 102.9%. The modified electrode showed no interference by cations commonly present in boiler water, such as K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Al³⁺, Pb²⁺, and Zn²⁺. The results obtained for hydrazine in boiler water using the proposed modified electrode are in agreement with the data obtained by a standard spectrophotometric method, at the 95% confidence level.

Keywords:

• Cobalt phthalocyanine
• Hydrazine
• Modified electrode

The authors acknowledge the financial support of FAPESP, CAPES, and CNPq (Brazilian public research agencies).

Notes

n = 3.

n = 3, 95% confidence level.