An improved method for isotopic and quantitative analysis of dissolved organic carbon in natural water samples

A wet chemical oxidation (WCO) method has been widely used to obtain the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content and carbon isotope (delta C-13(DOC)) ratios. However, it is sometimes difficult to get high precision results because not enough CO2 was oxidized from the natural water samples with low DOC concentrations. This improvement primarily aims to increase the water sample volume, improve the removal rate of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and minimize the blank DOC from the standard solution. Following the improved procedure, the delta C-13 ratios of standardized DOC solutions were consistent with their actual values, and their differences were less than 0.2 parts per thousand. The improved method demonstrated good accuracy and stability when applied to natural water samples with DOC concentrations >= 0.5 mg L-1, with the precisions of DOC concentrations and delta C-13 ratios were better than 0.07 mg L-1 and 0.1 parts per thousand, respectively. More importantly, this method saved much pre-treatment time and realized batch processing of water samples to obtain their DOC contents and isotope ratios.