Smartphone Coupled with a Paper-Based Colorimetric Device for Sensitive and Portable Mercury Ion Sensing

Smartphone Coupled with a Paper-Based Colorimetric Device for Sensitive and Portable Mercury Ion Sensing

The rapid development of information and communication technology provides an opportunity for scientists to develop a quantitative analytical method that is built on a mobile gadget as a detector. In this paper, we report a low-cost, simple and portable analytical method for mercury ion quantificati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosensors Vol. 7; no. 2; p. 25
Main Authors: Firdaus, M., Aprian, Angga, Meileza, Nessi, Hitsmi, Marti, Elvia, Rina, Rahmidar, Lena, Khaydarov, Renat
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-06-2019
Subjects:
Cameras
Chemicals
Colorimetry
Contaminants
Contamination
Cost analysis
Data processing
digital image
Digital imaging
Drinking water
Environmental protection
Ions
Ligands
Mathematical analysis
Medical research
Mercury
Methods
Mobile operating systems
Nanoparticles
paper-based analytical device
Portable equipment
Redox reactions
Silver
silver nanoparticles
smartphone application
Smartphones
Software
spectrophotometry
toxic metal
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
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Summary:The rapid development of information and communication technology provides an opportunity for scientists to develop a quantitative analytical method that is built on a mobile gadget as a detector. In this paper, we report a low-cost, simple and portable analytical method for mercury ion quantification based on digital image colorimetry coupled with a smartphone application. A small amount of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was used as a colorimetric agent that is selective only to mercury ions. The yellowish brown color of AgNPs instantly changed to colorless after the addition of mercury ions due to a redox reaction. To increase the portability, we attached the AgNPs onto a medium to create a paper-based analytical device. The final data processing of the colorimetric analysis was conducted using an android application available on the Google Play Store, called “Mercury Detector”. The proposed method has good sensitivity, with a detection limit of 0.86 ppb, which is comparable to those of bulk and more expensive instruments. This allows for the detection of mercury ions as low as 2 ppb (10 nM), which is also the maximum contaminant level permitted in drinking water by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed method was applied to real samples that provide satisfactory results on accuracy (2.4%) and precision (2.5%).
ISSN:2227-9040
2227-9040
DOI:10.3390/chemosensors7020025