Smartphone-Assisted Chemiluminescence System to Detect Fe in Drinking Water Samples

Iron (Fe) contamination in drinking water poses significant health risks, including organ damage and oxidative stress, emphasizing the need for rapid and portable detection methods. This study presents a novel chemiluminescence (CL)-based approach integrated with smartphone imaging for quantitative detection of Fe in drinking water samples. A luminol-hydrogen peroxide system, catalyzed by Fe, was optimized to achieve sensitive calibration, yielding a detection limit of 0.675 μM and a limit of quantification of 2.25 μM across a working range of 1-50 μM. The methodology was systematically validated through repeatability, reproducibility, and interference analysis. Real-world applicability was demonstrated by analyzing three different tap water samples using a recovery-based approach. This work also highlights the potential of coupling CL with smartphones, offering a low-cost, user-friendly, and scalable solution for environmental monitoring. The proposed protocol can be a viable alternative to conventional laboratory-based methods and pave the way for real-time water quality monitoring.