A methodology free of pyridine for measuring hydroxyl value in polymers and oils

This paper presents a new methodology, free of pyridine (PY), for measuring the hydroxyl value (IOH). Solid catalysts and solvents of lower toxicity than PY were tested. Imidazole (IMID) provided an IOH measurement comparable to the standard method. The relative standard deviation of the proposed method in relation to the standard method was less than 1% in most of the twenty-three samples tested. The new method is presented as a safer, reliable and inexpensive alternative to determine the IOH in different compounds.