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Evaluation of the source of bias caused by losses of solvent vapour during sample preparation

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Abstract

Evaporation losses of organic solvents used to dissolve reference solutions and samples lead directly to errors in the measurement of amount of substance. This is due to changes in the mass fraction composition and the mass:volume concentration of solutions. We have found that measuring the amount of solute added to a solution by weighing by difference is vulnerable to negative bias in the measured amount of solute added, because solvent vapour is lost from opened vials and from syringe needles. Relative negative bias became larger with higher solvent volatility and with smaller volumes, reaching −28% for 10 µL of dichloromethane. Straightforward precautions that reduce the impact of evaporation on gravimetric operations with volatile solvents are presented.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Parliamentary Grant to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and by the National Metrology Institute of South Africa. We would like to thank Ria Visser and Lenah Lebelo for carrying out sets of weighings.

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Author notes

  1. Peter J. Apps

    Present address: Paul G Allen Family Foundation Wildlife Chemistry Laboratory, Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Metrology Institute of South Africa, P/Bag X34, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040, South Africa

    Peter J. Apps & Marcellé Archer

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  1. Peter J. Apps
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  2. Marcellé Archer
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Correspondence to Marcellé Archer.

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Apps, P.J., Archer, M. Evaluation of the source of bias caused by losses of solvent vapour during sample preparation. Accred Qual Assur 15, 171–180 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0606-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0606-8

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