Comparison of Some Modern IT Equipment as Detectors for Microfluidic Paper-based Determination of Phosphate
Wasin Wongwilai [a], B. Manori Jayawardane [b], Spas D. Kolev [b], Kate Grudpan [a] and Ian D. McKelvie*[b,c]* Author for corresponding; e-mail address: iandm@unimelb.edu.au
Volume: Vol.43 No.1 (JANUARY 2016)
Research Article
DOI:
Received: 30 April 2015, Revised: -, Accepted: 6 June 2015, Published: -
Citation: Wongwilai W., Jayawardane B.M., Kolev S.D., Grudpan K. and Mckelvie I.D., Comparison of Some Modern IT Equipment as Detectors for Microfluidic Paper-based Determination of Phosphate, Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 2016; 43(1): 176-182.
Abstract
Modern Information Technology (IT) and communications equipment (mobiles phones, scanners, etc) may all be used as image capture devices for paper-based colorimetric analysis. This paper evaluates the use of a mobile phone, a webcam, a flatbed scanner and a handheld scanner as image capture devices for colorimetric determination of reactive phosphate using microfluidic paper-based analytical devices as the analytical platform. All four image capture devices tested gave similar analytical sensitivity and limits of detection (0.5-0.6 mg L-1 as P), although the handheld scanner and webcam exhibited non-linear responses over the range of concentrations tested, making them less suitable for field applications. The repeatability of the two scanners (<14% RSD) was superior to that of the mobile phone and webcam (ca 25% RSD). The flatbed scanner gave the best overall analytical performance.