Bismuth electrodes, an alternative in stripping voltammetry

The heavy metals are known as highly toxic contaminants, the processes carried out in industry contribute that finally they remain dispersed in effluents and sewage, doing part of the food chain. The importance of controlling the levels of these heavy metals has become an international policy, so it has generated interest in developing new analytical methodologies for its determination [1, 2, 3, 4]. The stripping voltammetry has been considered as a family of electro-sensitive analytical techniques useful for the determination of trace levels of many metals in environmental, clinical and industrial samples [3, 4]. This work presents an overview of these bismuth-based electrodes which were introduced around 2000, which have interesting characteristics for detection of heavy metals and which represent an alternative to mercury electrodes.