In my lab, we are using Toluene for extraction of PAH from biochar (byproduct of pyrolysis). There are numerous samples to measure. Therefore, to make it economic can we distill toluene from the extract and reuse this toluene for the next trial?
Or is there possibility for this distilled toluene to have PAH contamination?
I am grateful for any advise in to this matter.
Thank you
What is the full form of PAH ?
Is it Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) ?
In any chemical communication, a normal practice is if you would like to use an abbreviation, for the first time the full form is written along with the abbreviation in bracket, as in case of Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH).
If you are drying the extracted sample using rotatory evaporator and followed by simple distillation it may work, just confirm the purity of recycled toluene using a GC or HPLC machine. Nowadays, there are more economical way to do analysis for PAHs such as solid phase micro extraction (SPME).
Hi there
Yes you can, just follow the standard toluene purification procedures which include distillation followed by drying. You might run a small sample through GC if you have access to a GC. Otherwise just use it after distillation and drying! Bear in mind also that toluene is not classified as carcinogenic so it really is a nice solvent to use and reuse.
Update: it seems possible to reuse. Tested condensed toluene and pure toluene with a GC-MS. MS spectra is exactly the same for the same GC Programme.
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