Environmental Analysis of Aqueous 3-Nitro-1,2,4-Triazol-5-One (NTO) by Ion Chromatography with Conductivity Detection
Abstract
The newly fielded insensitive high-explosive compound 3-nitro-1,2,4-tria-zol-5-one (NTO) is mobile in the environment due to its high water solubility and low affinity for soils. The weak acidity of NTO (pKa 3.67) presents a challenge to environmental analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography but enables direct separation by ion chromatography (IC). Here we developed an IC method for NTO in natural water, soil, and post detonation residue. A gradient potassium hydroxide separation effectively resolved the inorganic anions (Fbar, C1bar, NO2bar, Brbar, SO42bar, NO3bar, and PO43bar) and NTO in 18 minutes. Suppressed conductivity of aqueous NTO was linear from 10 microgram/L to 10 mg/L with a detection limit of 3 microgram/L and quantitation limit of 9 microgram/L. Recoveries of NTO-spiked natural water samples were 93 percent-118 percent at concentrations of 30, 100, and 500 micrometer/L. Recoveries of NTO-spiked soil samples were 91 percent- 114 percent using deionized water (DI) extraction. NTO was completely recovered with DI-extraction in two post-detonation residue samples of IMX-101 but only partially recovered (58 percent and 69 percent ) in two higher-concentration residues, potentially due to incomplete dissolution of the energetic particle matrix. These results support IC for confirmation analysis of environmental samples and for screening nat-ural water samples while simultaneously analyzing inorganic ions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1103706
Entities
People
- Anthony J. Bednar
- Rebecca A. Crouch
- Samuel Beal
- Susan Taylor
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center