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Updated: Oct 15, 2026

On-line Analysis of Nitrogen Containing Compounds in Complex Hydrocarbon Matrixes
Published on: August 5, 2016
Determination of basic nitrogen-containing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons formed during thermal degradation of
M Wilhelm1, G Matuschek, A Kettrup
1GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Ecological Chemistry, Neuherberg, Germany. wilhelm@gsf.de
Abstract:
A method for the simultaneous determination of 22 nitrogen-containing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (15 azaarenes and seven amino-PAHs) in the gaseous products of the thermal degradation of polymers is described. After desorption and clean-up using cation-exchange chromatography (PRS cartridge) the samples were analyzed by HPLC-FD. The validation was carried out with real nylon 6 combustion samples. The recoveries of the compounds are in the range of 89-99% for the extraction and 91-100% for the clean up procedure. The detection limits ranged from 7 to 160 pg. The high recovery values, due to the quick and efficient clean-up procedure, resulted in low relative standard deviations (with the exception of acridine and 2-aminoanthracene <5%). The applicability of the method is also investigated for the determination of the N-PAHs in a pyrolysis sample.
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