Determination of Chimassorb 944 in Polypropylene Geotextiles by HPLC-UV

Abstract

This paper reports the development of a method for the determination of Chimassorb 944 (C944), in polypropylene geotextiles, by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The C944 was removed from the geotextiles by an ultrasonic extraction and then separated in a NH₂ column, followed by UV detection at 244 nm. Analytical validation showed that the method is accurate and precise. The developed methodology was applied for the determination of C944 in geotextiles exposed to artificial UV radiation and to natural weathering. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first method proposed for the determination of C944 in geotextiles.

Keywords:

• Chimassorb 944
• Geotextiles
• HPLC-UV
• Photo-degradation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Carvalhos Lda. (Lousã, Portugal) for producing the geotextiles studied in this work, Ciba (Porto, Portugal) for supplying the additive C944 for the development of the method, and Lipor II (Maia, Portugal) for providing the place for exposing the geotextiles to natural weathering. This paper reports research developed under financial support provided by “FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia,” Portugal (Project PTDC/ECM/67547/2006).

Notes

^a Solar radiation measured between 300 and 3000 nm.

^a 95% confident limits, determined according to Miller and Miller (1998).