Electrochemical determination of boron in minerals and ceramic materials

A method for quantitatively determining boron in minerals and ceramic materials is described. It is based on the abrasive attachment of mixtures of ZnO plus sample to PIGEs. After a reductive deposition step, square wave voltammograms recorded for those modified electrodes immersed into 0.10 M NaCl + 0.25 M mannitol provide well-defined stripping peaks at -0.85 and -0.15 V vs. AgCl/Ag for the oxidation of Zn and B, respectively. The quotients between the peak areas and the peak currents for the stripping oxidation of B and Zn vary linearly with the molar ratio of B and Zn in the mixture, thus providing an electrochemical method for determining the boron content in solid samples. Results for boron-containing minerals and ceramic frits are in excellent agreement with those obtained by a potentiometric reference method. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.