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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Measurement of the Potential Rates of Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium Based on 14NH4+/15NH4+ Analyses via Sequential Conversion to N2O
Published on: October 7, 2020
Comparative ease of separation of mixtures of selected nuisance anions (nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, phosphate) using
Frederick W Stull1, Dean F Martin
1Institute for Environmental Studies, Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620-5250, USA.
Abstract:
Mixtures of sodium salts of nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, and phosphate were prepared in relative amounts present in atomic waste containers with a view to effect removal by chromatography over Octolig, commercially available material with polyethylenediamine moieties covalently attached to high-surface area silica gel. Separation was attempted using aqueous solutions and column chromatography with Octolig. It is presumed that this material is capable of removing the anions by means of encapsulation. Matrix effects were tested by varying the relative concentrations. Rates of elution were varied 5-fold without adverse effect. The order of selectivity was found to be phosphate > sulfate > nitrite > nitrate through experiments altering the volume and relative concentrations. Quantitative removal of all anions (375 ppm of each) could be achieved given reasonable volumes of Octolig. An effort at regeneration by altering the pH of the eluant indicated the stability of the encapsulated anions.
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