Application of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectrometry to the determination of sodium percarbonate in washing powder detergent

In this paper, a novel and precise analytical procedure has been developed for quantitative determination of sodium percarbonate (SPC) in washing powder. The method is based on the partial least squares (PLS) treatment of data obtained by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectrometry in wavenumber region of 1435-1342 cm(-1). The statistical parameters such as R 2, RSD, SEC and SECV have been evaluated, and number of factors, number of scan and the resolution have been optimized. In this method R 2 and RSD for five independent analyses of a 0.552 g per 100 g solution of SPC, SEC for 10 standard samples and SECV for five validation samples were 0.998, 1.011, 0.002 and 0.039 respectively. Results obtained for six different commercial washing powders compared well with those obtained with a standard method. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.