Chemometric-Assisted Litmus Test: One Single Sensing Platform Adapted from 1-13 to Narrow pH Ranges

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Accurate pH determination is crucial in various scientific fields.
• Existing methods can be complex or time-consuming.
• Development of user-friendly and reliable sensing platforms is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel colorimetric sensing platform for pH determination.
• To create a device capable of measuring pH across a broad range (1-13) and specific narrow ranges.
• To validate the accuracy and reliability of the developed sensing platform.

Main Methods:

• Covalent anchoring of commercial pH indicators to ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) to create a 3x4 colorimetric sensing array.
• Utilizing chemometric techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square Regression (PLS), for data analysis.
• Acquiring images of the sensing platform using a camera for quantitative analysis of RGB indices.

Main Results:

• The developed chemometric-assisted litmus test (CLT) platform enables pH determination from 1 to 13.
• The sensing platform achieves high accuracy with errors below 0.5 pH units.
• The experimental procedure is simple, quick, and reliable, with equilibration achieved in under 2 hours.

Conclusions:

• The chemometric-assisted litmus test (CLT) is a novel, effective, and reliable colorimetric sensing platform for pH determination.
• The platform offers a simple and rapid alternative for accurate pH measurements in diverse applications.
• The integration of chemometric analysis enhances the quantitative capabilities of the colorimetric sensor.