Determination of hydrazine in polyvinylpyrrolidone by derivatization and square wave voltammetry

A rapid and precise method has been developed for the determination of hydrazine in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Hydrazine is converted to salicylaldazine by reaction with salicylaldehyde. After extraction, the azine is reduced at –1.56 V versus the SCE at the hanging drop electrode. Detection is accomplished using square wave voltammetry and comparison to an external salicylaldazine standard. The described procedure can detect as little as 70 ng/g hydrazine in PVP.