Determination of the nitrogen content of cationic cellulose fibers by analytical pyrolysis

Analytical pyrolysis in combination with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry or a nitrogen-phosphorus detector, respectively, were used to characterize, the quaternization reagent glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and a cationic cotton fabric. Trimethylamine was shown to be the most abundant nitrogen-containing product in the pyrolysis of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and was thus used for the quantification of the nitrogen content of the cationic cotton fabric. The results were compared to those obtained by traditional methods such as Kjeldahl and elemental analysis. It could be shown that pyrolysis is well suited for monitoring the nitrogen content of cellulose fibers.