Detection of picric acid in solutions

Abstract

2,4,6-trinitrophenol, also known as picric acid (PA), was a widely used explosive, including during the Boer War [1] and World War I [2]. In the interwar period, the military use of PA began to be abandoned and began to replace it with 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene (TNT). Despite lower sensitivity and difficult access to its substrates in the interwar period, TNT provided much greater safety of use compared to the substrates used to produce PA [3]. In addition to the high sensitivity of PA, the danger of its use was its high toxicity compared to other commonly used explosives.