High-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution and application to simulated Martian soil and related materials.

A new method for determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is described. H2O2 reacts with iodide in the presence of ammonium molybdate and vanillic acid resulting in the formation of iodovanillic acid which is quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and detected by UV absorption at 280 nm. The method provides a detection limit of ~0.1 μM and is easy to implement. Iodovanillic acid is stable, allowing multiple measurements of the same sample, and the separation power of the HPLC yields high selectivity against potential interferences. This method will be useful for many environmental applications. The method has been applied to quantify the photochemical production of H2O2 by aqueous suspensions of various minerals and soils.