Simultaneous determination of inorganic anions and cations in explosive residues by ion chromatography

A non-suppressed ion chromatographic method by connecting anion-exchange and cation-exchange columns directly was developed for the separation and determination of five inorganic anions (sulfate, nitrate, chloride, nitrite, and chlorate) and three cations (sodium, ammonium, and potassium) simultaneously in explosive residues. The mobile phase was composed of 3.5 mM phthalic acid with 2% acetonitrile and water at flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. Under the optimal conditions, the eight inorganic ions were completely separated and detected simultaneously within 16 min. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) of the anions and cations were in the range of 50–100 μg/L and 150–320 μg/L, respectively, the linear correlation coefficients were 0.9941–0.9996, and the R.S.D. of retention time and peak area were 0.10–0.29% and 5.65–8.12%, respectively. The method was applied successfully to the analysis of the explosive samples with satisfactory results.