Determination of the nitrogen content in nitrocellulose using polarized light microscope

A novel method for determination of the nitrogen content in nitrocellulose was established using a polarized light microscope. Senarmont method was used to determine the average optical path difference. The results show that the relationship(ω= -0. 046 6A + 12. 388) between the nitrogen content and the optical path difference was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0. 999 3 when the range of the nitrogen content in nitrocellulose were 11. 0% -13. 8%. Certified nitrocellulose reference materials were used to evaluate the method and the results show that the recoveries ranged from 99. 7% to 100. 2% with the relative standard deviations falling between 0. 15% and 0. 20%. The method is simple , accurate and environment-friendly.