Published:Journal of Chromatographic Science,
ISSN 0021-9665 Volume
47, Number 1, January 2009, pp. 40-43
Analysis of New Generation Explosives in the
Presence of U.S. EPA Method 8330 Energetic Compounds by High-Performance
Liquid Chromatography
Teresa M Chow1, Monte R. Wilcoxon1,
Marvin D. Piwoni1, and Stephen W. Maloney2 1The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Champaign, IL 61820
and 2Engineer Research and Development Center, Army Corps of
Engineers, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign,
IL 61826
U.S. EPA Method 8330 was evaluated and modified
for the analysis of DNAN (2,4-dinitroanisole) and MNA (n-methyl-p-nitroaniline)
by high-performance liquid chromatography in various aqueous
media in the presence and absence of the 14 energetic compounds
currently assigned to the method. DNAN and MNA are two of the
four components in PAX-21, a new generation explosive formulation.
An optimized method was developed to separate all 14 energetic
compounds from DNAN and MNA using a tertiary mobile phase of
water–methanol–acetonitrile (68:28:4) in an isocratic
run of 35 min. The limit of detection (LOD, 3S0) was calculated
to be 10 ppb for both MNA and DNAN. The limit of quantitation
(LOQ, 10S0) was 40 ppb for both compounds. The dynamic ranges
for the two compounds were very wide, a nearly 5 orders of magnitude
range from 0.02 to 1,000 parts per million (ppm). The spike recoveries
of MNA and DNAN in environmental matrix samples were excellent
for DNAN, from 87% to 113%. For MNA, the recoveries were slightly
high at the low level (60 ppb), probably due to some contamination
in the ditch and pond matrices; but they were satisfactory at
higher levels ranging from 85% to 121%.
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