Development of a 3D printed chemiluminescence smartphone detector for high performance liquid chromatography

A novel chemiluminescence detector for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was designed that incorporates a smartphone as photodetector, signal processor, and data storage unit. All detector components, including flow cell, flow cell holder, mixers, and housing, were fabricated by 3D printing and integration of the smartphone and 3D printed components provides a portable, low-cost, and user-friendly device. The detector was applied in the determination of carbamazepine using HPLC through a chemiluminescence reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) and cerium sulfate. Design and fabrication of the flow cell using two fabrication methods-3D printing and laser cutting-along with the integration of a mixer and the optimization of smartphone parameters were investigated. To expand the applicability of the detector for other analytes and different chemiluminescence reactions, detection of three piperazine derivatives by reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) and four phenethylamine compounds via reaction with acidic potassium permanganate reagent was studied. The linear dynamic range, limit of detection, and limit of quantification of the detector for the determination of carbamazepine were measured as 3.0-30.0 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, and 3.0 mg/L, respectively, using the Samsung S20 smartphone device. Intraday and interday precision was evaluated for carbamazepine, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values for intraday precision ranging from 1.7 % to 6.2 % (n = 3) and interday precision RSD values ranging from 3.2 % to 4.8 % (n = 9).