Smartphone-based analysis in environmental analytical chemistry: A review

The possibility of environmental samples analyzing at the sampling’s location is aspecial advantage that scientists have considered as the main goals in chemical andenvironmental analysis. The design of portable analytical devices facilitates this goal. Prevalentlaboratory analysis tools are not portable, and the use of this equipment limits on-site analysis.Also, the use of these tools is sometimes unfavorable due to the production of hazardous waste,harmful radiation, and hazardous gases for the environment. Smartphones are the new aspect ofmodern life, and their application is becoming more and more widespread as advances inconstruction and enhancement of their capabilities. The significant increase in the use of thesedevices has been followed by the development and enhancement of various color detectionmodes to perform the needs of qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative analysis. Thisarticle discusses the green aspects of various qualitative and quantitative analysis applications ofsmartphones, such as optical detection (colorimetry, fluorescence, chemiluminescence,bioluminescence, pixelation, and label-free detection), electrochemical detection, barcodereading, and imaging of smartphones with a fluorescence microscope. Also, its advantages anddisadvantages in environment samples have been explained. Smartphone technique has beenused for analysis of organic pollutants (Bisphenol A, Malondialdehyde,…) and inorganicpollutants (Pb, Hg, Ni, Ca,…) in different environmental samples. This modern and populartechnology could be a new turning point in environmental and analytical chemistry.