Determination of hydrogen peroxide concentration using a handheld Raman spectrometer: Detection of an explosives...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Accurate determination of hydrogen peroxide concentration is crucial in various fields, including industrial processes and safety applications.
• Existing methods for hydrogen peroxide quantification can be time-consuming or require complex laboratory equipment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a rapid, field-deployable method for quantifying hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solutions using a handheld Raman spectrometer.
• To assess the accuracy and reliability of Raman spectroscopy for hydrogen peroxide analysis with an internal standard.

Main Methods:

• Aqueous hydrogen peroxide samples were mixed with a sodium perchlorate solution (4mol/dm³) acting as an internal standard.
• Quantitative analysis was performed using standard calibration based on relative peak heights of perchlorate and peroxide bands.
• Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression and spectral library searching were employed for concentration estimation.

Main Results:

• Standard calibration achieved an average error of 1.43% for hydrogen peroxide concentrations between 5-30%.
• PLS regression yielded a lower average error of 0.98%.
• Spectral library searching correctly classified all test samples, matching to the closest concentration when an exact match was not available.

Conclusions:

• Handheld Raman spectroscopy offers a rapid and accurate method for determining hydrogen peroxide concentrations in aqueous solutions.
• The use of sodium perchlorate as an internal standard simplifies calibration and enhances quantitative analysis.
• This technique has significant potential for field applications, such as on-site detection at suspected improvised explosives manufacturing sites.