Abstract
A monolithic rod of polyurethane foam–[4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol] (PUF–PAR) as a simple chemical sensor for lead assays with smartphone detection and image processing was developed. With readily available simple apparatus such as a plastic cup and a stirrer rod, the monolithic PUF rod was synthesized in a glass tube. The monolithic PUF–PAR rod could be directly loaded by standard/sample solution without sample preparation. A one-shot image in G/B value from a profile plot in ImageJ for a sample with triplicate results via a single standard calibration approach was obtained. A linear single standard calibration was: [G/B value] = −0.038[µg Pb2+] + 2.827, R2 = 0.95 for 10–30 µg Pb2+ with a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 33 µg L−1. The precision was lower than 15% RSD. The proposed method was tested by an assay for Pb2+ contents in drinking water samples from Bangkok. The results obtained by the proposed method agree with those of ICP-OES and with 100–120% recovery, demonstrating that the method is useful for screening on-site water monitoring.
Highlights
Lead is a substance of concern due to its toxicity
A novel method for monitoring lead contents in water, by using smartphone detection and employing polyurethane foam (PUF) immobilized with a PAR monolithic rod as a ready-to-use simple chemical sensor was proposed, by following the IUPAC definition of a chemical sensor
The PUF could be synthesized in simple lab conditions and lead to the simple fabrication of a monolithic PUF rod
Summary
Lead is a substance of concern due to its toxicity. According to Thailand’s guidelines for health effects, a maximum of 50 μg L−1 of lead is allowed in drinking water [1]. The development of lead determination has been of interest for various kinds of applications, including water monitoring. There have been a number of reports devoted to lead monitoring, including the use of nanoparticles [3,4,5,6] and smartphones [7,8,9,10,11], various screen-printed electrodes have been used for the electrochemical analysis of lead [12,13,14], with the aims of improved sensitivity and more convenient procedures. PAR, which could be viable in laboratories, has made the colorimetric determination of lead a popular implementation, with simple operation. Pretreatment may be associated with the colorimetric determination of lead using PAR. Some sorbents such as AV-17 [17,18,19], polyurethane foam
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