Gold electrode activation, connected with a proper selection of
the supporting electrolyte, is essential to obtain sharp and reproducible signals in voltammetric stripping measurements of Hg(II),
as described by several authors[2,3,5,7,15]. The need of the electrochemical activation procedure using SPGE is clearly demonstrated
by comparing the square wave anodic stripping voltammogram of
50ngmL
−1
of mercury in 0.1M of HCl obtained before and after
activation by five cycles of cyclic voltammetry (CV)[15], using the
following conditions: potential range 0/+0.7V, scan rate 50mVs
−1