title: Guidelines for improving organic carbon recovery by the wet oxidation method.
abstract: The study of soil degradation processes as well as the monitoring of environmental quality often yields large sample batches in which organic carbon is the key property to be determined. A description is given for a rapid method to analyse organic carbon by wet oxidation; the reaction is carried out with 3ml K(2)Cr(2)O(7) and 6ml H(2)SO(4) in small vials, and Cr(3+) resulting from organic C oxidation is determined by spectrophotometry. No special equipment is needed and handling is reduced to a minimum, enabling over 100 samples per day to be analysed. There is one important detail in the operation protocol: the vials are placed inside an insulator block during oxidation. Heat insulation retards the cooling of vials, which results in a high organic C recovery (over 0.90). The improved method is feasible, simple, and easy to perform. Reproducibility was lower than 10% and recoveries from certified reference materials were about 90%. The simplified method is recommended for widespread organic C content sampling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science and Environmental Chemistry, Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC), Profesor Albareda 1, E-18008 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Mingorance
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barahona
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernández-Gálvez
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon