Proposal for the analysis of nitrocellulose in soil or compost

摘要

Currently, there is no ''standard'' analytical method for the measurement of nitrocellulose (NC) in soil or compost. At the present, an indirect method is used. This method extracts the NC from soil or compost, separates out nitrate or nitrite ions, hydrolyzes the NC nitrogroups, and measures the liberated nitrite colorimetrically. Major weaknesses are that the %N content or degree of nitrate substitution (DS) of the NC must be known to convert the nitrate measurements to NC concentrations, incomplete separation of nitrate/nitrite ions coextracted from the soil leads to over-estimation of NC, and incomplete extraction and/or hydrolysis of the NC cause a low bias to the NC estimations. Additionally, the method provides no information about the condition of the NC. Characterization of the molecular weight distribution and detection of functional groups in addition to nitrate ester would be highly useful in developing and applying remediation technologies. This paper proposes a size exclusion chromatography (SEC)-based method for analysis of NC in soil, compost, or other sample matrices. The method has the potential to provide both quantitative and qualitative information. The proposed method is described and some of the factors which must be addressed in method development and validation are discussed. SEC has much potential as a tool for guiding the development and application of remediation technologies for NC contaminated soils and other matrices. The extraction of NC from soil without deterioration is probably the main technical difficulty to overcome. Development of an analytical method is encouraged.