A 3D-Printable Dual Beam Spectrophotometer with Multiplatform Smartphone Adaptor

Low cost, open-source analytical instrumentation has the potential to increase educational outcomes for students and enable large-scale citizen science projects. Many of these instruments rely on smartphones to collect the data, mainly because they can effectively leverage a dramatic price-to-perfor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of chemical education Vol. 96; no. 7; pp. 1527 - 1531
Main Authors:	Bogucki, Ryan, Greggila, Mary, Mallory, Paul, Feng, Jiansheng, Siman, Kelly, Khakipoor, Banafsheh, King, Hunter, Smith, Adam W
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 09-07-2019 Division of Chemical Education, Inc American Chemical Society
Subjects:	Assaying Bouguer law Chemistry Color Colorimetry Correlation Cost analysis Data acquisition Educational Objectives Form factors Geometry Handheld Devices Hands on Science Instrumentation Nitrates Open Source Technology Optical measuring instruments Organic chemistry Outcomes of Education Photography Science education Science Instruction Science Laboratories Science Projects Scientific Principles Sensors Signal to noise ratio Smartphones Spectrometers Spectrophotometers Spectroscopy Teaching Methods Telecommunications Three dimensional printing Undergraduate Students Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives Quantitative Analysis UV−vis Spectroscopy Upper-Division Undergraduate Kinetics Physical Chemistry
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Summary:	Low cost, open-source analytical instrumentation has the potential to increase educational outcomes for students and enable large-scale citizen science projects. Many of these instruments rely on smartphones to collect the data, mainly because they can effectively leverage a dramatic price-to-performance ratio of the optical sensors. However, several hurdles need to be overcome for these devices to be more widely adapted. In this communication we focus on visible spectrophotometers, which are common in chemistry laboratories because of the day-to-day need for quantifying concentration. To make smartphone-based spectrometers practical for wider use, we have designed a 3D-printable spectrophotometer with a dual-beam optical geometry. This geometry allows for sample and reference data to be collected on the same photograph and thus improves the signal-to-noise ratio and reproducibility of the spectra. A universal mounting system was also developed to allow for a wide variety of smartphone form factors to be coupled to the spectrophotometer. To demonstrate potential applications of this device, two assays are reported. The first is a simple illustration of the Beer–Lambert Law with common household dyes. The second is a colorimetric nitrate assay, which shows a quantitative relationship between absorption and nitrate concentration. Kinetic data are also shown for the nitrate assay, which illustrate the long time-stability of the spectral data acquired from the device.
ISSN:	0021-9584 1938-1328
DOI:	10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00870