In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) obtained from photographic waste were synthesized and electrodeposited via cyclic voltammetry using epoxy-graphite composite as an electrochemical substrate. Both electrodes, unmodified (Epoxy/C) and modified (Epoxy/C/AgNPs), were characterized electrochemically by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), charge transfer constant (K0), and electroactive area. The modified electrode provided lower charge transfer resistance (275 Ω), more kinetically favored electron transfer (K0 = 1.15 × 10-3 cm s-1), and a 1.7-fold increase in the active area compared to the unmodified electrode. Additional characterizations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of AgNPs structures on the carbonaceous surface. As a proof of concept, Pb2+ was used as a model analyte, and a square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) method was developed to evaluate the analytical performance of both electrodes. A wider linear range (4.0 to 40.0 µg L-1), the appropriate limit of detection (1.2 µg L-1), and a 6-fold increase in sensitivity were found using the modified electrode, suggesting that the AgNPs significantly contributed to the performance of the electrode. The proposed method was applied to three real water samples, where the Pb2+ levels varied from 11.3 to 19.5 µg L-1. The proposed protocol (reuse of silver waste) has proven to be a powerful tool for improving the detection of Pb2+, which can be helpful for other electrochemical sensing applications in locations with minimal infrastructure.

In this work, an alternative and low-cost technique for the extraction and quantification of Fe (total) from food supplements by digital image analysis is shown. The method is based on the complexation of Fe ions in solution with the 8-hydroxyquinoline ligand, forming a colored complex that is extractable from aqueous solution to polyurethane foam, coloring this one, which was initially white, to brown. After the acquisition and treatment of the digital image generated by the foam, the quantification of Fe is performed. Interference and recovery tests show that the method is not affected by concomitants in the sample. The method was applied to 3 different types of dietary supplements, and these results were compared to those obtained by FAAS, showing statistical equivalence. The limits of quantification obtained in this work was 1.78 µmol L-1, the limit of detection was 0.53 µmol L-1, the accuracy was 97.5 + 4.8% and the precision was 8.45%. The analytical curve was linear from 2.0 to 10.0 µmol L-1, with a r2 of 0.9975.

Cadmium is considered a potentially toxic element, since it doesn't perform any biological function and is highly cumulative. This element is usually found in environmental samples in very low concentrations. For this reason, there is a necessity to develop methods that allow sufficiently low detection limits. From this perspective, a simple, sensitive, selective and low cost methodology was developed for the determination of Cd by F AAS. The system involves the on-line pre concentration of cadmium onto a commercial polystyrene divinil benzene (PSDV) resin modified with phenylfluorone (PF). The experimental conditions (both chemical and physical) were optimized to achieve highest sensitivity. The modified resin had high chemical and physical resistance, and could be reused for 300 cycles without compromising the system's sensitivity. The obtained enrichment factor was around 8 times and accuracy, calculated as relative standard deviation (RSD), of 5.5% for cadmium concentration of 40 µg L-1. The limits of detection and quantification obtained were 0.15 and 0.49 µg L-1, respectively. This methodology proved to be applicable for samples of river waters, in which matrix interferences were not observed. In these samples recovery tests were conducted in order to evaluate the accuracy of the method, and these results varied between 89 and 118%.