QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATION OF BTCA BOUND TO CELLULOSIC MATERIAL BY MEANS OF ISOCRATIC HPLC

1,2,3,4-Butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) offers an alternative to the conventional N-methylol compounds as a crosslinking agent for cellulo sic textiles. Thus, it is of particular interest to determine the amou nt of BTCA that reacts with the cellulosic material. In this research, we saponify the cured fabric by means of a NaOH solution. The BTCA co ncentration in the saponification mixture is measured with the aid of isocratic HPLC using the strong cationic exchange column Aminex HPX-87 -H in combination with a UV detector. We study the effect of different concentrations of NaOH and find that there is a significant saponific ation reaction with NaOH concentrations greater than 0.05 M. Measureme nts of the dry crease recovery angle (DCRA) and nr transmission spectr a indicate that the saponification reaction is complete. We test the a nalytical procedure by investigating three different fabrics impregnat ed with finish solutions containing 2, 4, 6, and 8% (w/w) BTCA and 6% (w/w) SHP (sodium hypophosphite). To verify the accuracy of the quanti tative determination, we use calibration curve and standard additions methods. Recovery is 97.4 - 103.2% depending on the weight fraction of BTCA in the finish bath and on the fabric. Our statistics confirm tha t this procedure proves a precise and accurate analytical method for q uantifying BTCA that has reacted with cellulosic fabrics.