Trace Determination of Strong Acids in NitroPlasticizers

Abstract

A titration method was applied to the trace determination of strong acids in a variety of nitro plasticizers. The analyses were performed in acetonitrile using an automatic titrator and a calomel combined glass electrode for non-aqueous solutions. A dilute solution of sodium hydroxide (5.00 × 10 ^{- 4} M) in methanol was used as the titrant. The sensitivity and precision of the method were greatly increased by the addition of a known volume of dilute nitric acid to the solvent in which the titrations were performed. Very low acid content values were detected in the plasticizers with the experimental conditions used. The detection limit was found to be 0.001 mg g ^{- 1} of NaOH in the sample (0.000025 m equiv. g ^{- 1} ) and the measured acid content values were reproducible.