A Highly Sensitive Dip Strip for Detection of Phosphate in Water
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant life which is most frequently found as phosphate in water. Once phosphate is found in abundance in surface water, a series of adverse effects on an ecosystem can be initiated. Therefore, a portable and reliable method is needed to monitor the phosphate concentrations in the field. In this paper, an inexpensive dip strip device with the ascorbic acid/antimony reagent dried on blotting paper along with wet chemistry is developed for the detection of low concentrations of phosphate in water. Ammonium molybdate and sulfuric acid are separately stored in liquid form so as to improve significantly the lifetime of the device and enhance the reproducibility of the device’s performance. The limit of detection and quantification for the optimized device are 0.134 ppm and 0.472 ppm for phosphate in water, respectively. The device’s shelf life, storage conditions, and limit of detection are superior to what has been previously reported for the paper-based phosphate detection devices.
[1] X. Zhu and J. Ma, “Recent advances in the determination of phosphate in environmental water samples: Insights from practical perspectives,” TrAC - Trends Anal. Chem., vol. 127, p. 115908, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.trac.2020.115908.
[2] S. Sateanchok, N. Pankratova, M. Cuartero, T. Cherubini, K. Grudpan, and E. Bakker, “In-Line Seawater Phosphate Detection with Ion-Exchange Membrane Reagent Delivery,” ACS Sensors, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 2455–2462, 2018, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.8b01096
[3] R. Kent, T. D. Johnson, and M. R. Rosen, “Status and trends of orthophosphate concentrations in groundwater used for public supply in California,” Environ. Monit. Assess., vol. 192, no. 8, p. 550, Aug. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10661-020-08504-x.
[4] M. Sarwar, J. Leichner, G. M. Naja, and C. Z. Li, “Smart-phone, paper-based fluorescent sensor for ultra-low inorganic phosphate detection in environmental samples,” Microsystems Nanoeng., vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41378-019-0096-8.
[5] H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “Infrared Lightbox and iPhone App for Improving Detection Limit of Phosphate Detecting Dip Strips,” Int. J. Chem. Mol. Eng., vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 179–185, 2020.
[6] J. Jońca, V. León Fernández, D. Thouron, A. Paulmier, M. Graco, and V. Garçon, “Phosphate determination in seawater: Toward an autonomous electrochemical method,” Talanta, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 161–167, 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2011.09.056.
[7] S. Sun, Q. Chen, S. Sheth, G. Ran, and Q. Song, “Direct Electrochemical Sensing of Phosphate in Aqueous Solutions Based on Phase Transition of Calcium Phosphate,” ACS Sensors, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 541–548, 2020, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.9b02435.
[8] S. A. Martínez Gache, A. A. Recoulat Angelini, M. L. Sabeckis, and F. L. González Flecha, “Improving the stability of the malachite green method for the determination of phosphate using Pluronic F68,” Anal. Biochem., vol. 597, no. March, p. 113681, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113681.
[9] D. Snigur, A. Chebotarev, K. Bulat, and V. Duboviy, “Fast room temperature cloud point extraction procedure for spectrophotometric determination of phosphate in water samples,” Anal. Biochem., vol. 597, no. February, p. 113671, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113671.
[10] J. K. Salem and M. A. Draz, “Selective colorimetric nano-sensing solution for the determination of phosphate ion in drinking water samples,” Int. J. Environ. Anal. Chem., vol. 00, no. 00, pp. 1–10, 2020, doi: 10.1080/03067319.2019.1702168.
[11] N. Moonrungsee, S. Pencharee, and J. Jakmunee, “Colorimetric analyzer based on mobile phone camera for determination of available phosphorus in soil,” Talanta, vol. 136, pp. 204–209, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.01.024.
[12] H. X. Zhao, L. Q. Liu, Z. de Liu, Y. Wang, X. J. Zhao, and C. Z. Huang, “Highly selective detection of phosphate in very complicated matrixes with an off–on fluorescent probe of europium-adjusted carbon dots,” Chem. Commun., vol. 47, no. 9, pp. 2604–2606, 2011, doi: 10.1039/c0cc04399k.
[13] Q. Du, X. Zhang, H. Cao, and Y. Huang, “Polydopamine coated copper nanoclusters with aggregation-induced emission for fluorometric determination of phosphate ion and acid phosphatase activity,” Microchim. Acta, vol. 187, no. 6, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s00604-020-04335-2.
[14] M. A. Rahman, D. S. Park, S. C. Chang, C. J. McNeil, and Y. B. Shim, “The biosensor based on the pyruvate oxidase modified conducting polymer for phosphate ions determinations,” Biosens. Bioelectron., vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 1116–1124, 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2005.04.008.
[15] P. Franz, V. Gassl, A. Topf, L. Eckelmann, B. Iorga, and G. Tsiavaliaris, “A thermophoresis–based biosensor for real–time detection of inorganic phosphate during enzymatic reactions,” Biosens. Bioelectron., vol. 169, no. July, p. 112616, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112616.
[16] J. Murphy and J. P. Riley, “Determination Single Solution Method for the in Natural,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 27, pp. 31–36, 1962.
[17] J. E. Going and S. J. Eisenreich, “Spectrophotometric studies of reduced molybdoantimonylphosphoric acid,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 95–106, May 1974, doi: 10.1016/S0003-2670(01)82914-7.
[18] W. A. Dick and M. A. Tabatabai, “Kinetic parameters of phopsphates in soils and organic waste materials,” Soil Sci., vol. 137, no. 1, pp. 7–15, Jan. 1984, doi: 10.1097/00010694-198401000-00002.
[19] L. Drummond and W. Maher, “Determination of phosphorus in aqueous solution via formation of the phosphoantimonylmolybdenum blue complex. Re-examination of optimum conditions for the analysis of phosphate,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 302, no. 1, pp. 69–74, Feb. 1995, doi: 10.1016/0003-2670(94)00429-P.
[20] E. A. Nagul, I. D. McKelvie, P. Worsfold, and S. D. Kolev, “The molybdenum blue reaction for the determination of orthophosphate revisited: Opening the black box,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 890, pp. 60–82, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2015.07.030.
[21] N. K. Ibnul and C. P. Tripp, “A solventless method for detecting trace level phosphate and arsenate in water using a transparent membrane and visible spectroscopy,” Talanta, vol. 225, p. 122023, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.122023.
[22] B. M. Jayawardane et al., “Evaluation and Application of a Paper-Based Device for the Determination of Reactive Phosphate in Soil Solution,” J. Environ. Qual., vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1081–1085, 2014, doi: 10.2134/jeq2013.08.0336.
[23] A. Y. El-Sayed, Y. Z. Hussein, and M. A. Mohammed, “Simultaneous determination of phosphate and silicate in detergents and waters by first-derivative spectrophotometry,” Analyst, vol. 126, no. 10, pp. 1810–1815, 2001, doi: 10.1039/b103159g.
[24] A. Charbaji, H. Heidari-Bafroui, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “A New Paper-Based Microfluidic Device for Improved Detection of Nitrate in Water,” Sensors, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 102, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.3390/s21010102.
[25] B. M. Jayawardane, I. D. McKelvie, and S. D. Kolev, “A paper-based device for measurement of reactive phosphate in water,” Talanta, vol. 100, pp. 454–460, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2012.08.021.
[26] J. M. Racicot, T. L. Mako, A. Olivelli, and M. Levine, “A Paper-Based Device for Ultrasensitive, Colorimetric Phosphate Detection in Seawater,” Sensors, vol. 20, no. 10, p. 2766, May 2020, doi: 10.3390/s20102766.
[27] B. Waghwani, S. Balpande, and J. Kalambe, “Development of microfluidic paper based analytical device for detection of phosphate in water,” Int. J. Innov. Technol. Explor. Eng., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 592–595, 2019.
[28] A. T. Lawal and S. B. Adeloju, “Polypyrrole Based Amperometric and Potentiometric Phosphate Biosensors: A Comparative Study,” J. Appl. Sci., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 315–325, Feb. 2012, doi: 10.3923/jas.2012.315.325.
[29] A. Puri and M. Kumar, “A review of permissible limits of drinking water,” Indian J. Occup. Environ. Med., vol. 16, no. 1, p. 40, 2012, doi: 10.4103/0019-5278.99696.
[30] G. A. Tsigdinos, H. Y. Chen, and B. J. Streusand, “Molybdate Solutions for Catalyst Preparation. Stability, Adsorption Properties, and Characterization,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev., vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 619–623, 1981, doi: 10.1021/i300004a007.
[31] J. Weiss and T. Weis, Handbook of Ion Chromatography, 3rd ed. New Jersey (NJ): John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2005.
[32] S. Kasetsirikul, M. J. A. Shiddiky, and N.-T. Nguyen, “Challenges and perspectives in the development of paper-based lateral flow assays,” Microfluid. Nanofluidics, vol. 24, no. 2, p. 17, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10404-020-2321-z.
[33] H. J. Motulsky and A. Christopoulos, Fitting models to biological data using linear and nonlinear regression. A practical guide to curve fitting. San Diego, CA: GraphPad Software Inc, 2003.
[34] P. Cao, Y. Zhu, W. Zhao, S. Liu, and H. Gao, “Chromaticity Measurement Based on the Image Method and Its Application in Water Quality Detection,” Water, vol. 11, no. 11, p. 2339, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.3390/w11112339.
[35] J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Statistics, and chemometrics for analytical chemistry, Fifth ed. Harlow, Essex England: Pearson Education Limited, 2005.
[36] H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “Portable infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices,” Meas. J. Int. Meas. Confed., 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.measurement.2020.108607
[1] X. Zhu and J. Ma, “Recent advances in the determination of phosphate in environmental water samples: Insights from practical perspectives,” TrAC - Trends Anal. Chem., vol. 127, p. 115908, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.trac.2020.115908.
[2] S. Sateanchok, N. Pankratova, M. Cuartero, T. Cherubini, K. Grudpan, and E. Bakker, “In-Line Seawater Phosphate Detection with Ion-Exchange Membrane Reagent Delivery,” ACS Sensors, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 2455–2462, 2018, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.8b01096
[3] R. Kent, T. D. Johnson, and M. R. Rosen, “Status and trends of orthophosphate concentrations in groundwater used for public supply in California,” Environ. Monit. Assess., vol. 192, no. 8, p. 550, Aug. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10661-020-08504-x.
[4] M. Sarwar, J. Leichner, G. M. Naja, and C. Z. Li, “Smart-phone, paper-based fluorescent sensor for ultra-low inorganic phosphate detection in environmental samples,” Microsystems Nanoeng., vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41378-019-0096-8.
[5] H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “Infrared Lightbox and iPhone App for Improving Detection Limit of Phosphate Detecting Dip Strips,” Int. J. Chem. Mol. Eng., vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 179–185, 2020.
[6] J. Jońca, V. León Fernández, D. Thouron, A. Paulmier, M. Graco, and V. Garçon, “Phosphate determination in seawater: Toward an autonomous electrochemical method,” Talanta, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 161–167, 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2011.09.056.
[7] S. Sun, Q. Chen, S. Sheth, G. Ran, and Q. Song, “Direct Electrochemical Sensing of Phosphate in Aqueous Solutions Based on Phase Transition of Calcium Phosphate,” ACS Sensors, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 541–548, 2020, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.9b02435.
[8] S. A. Martínez Gache, A. A. Recoulat Angelini, M. L. Sabeckis, and F. L. González Flecha, “Improving the stability of the malachite green method for the determination of phosphate using Pluronic F68,” Anal. Biochem., vol. 597, no. March, p. 113681, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113681.
[9] D. Snigur, A. Chebotarev, K. Bulat, and V. Duboviy, “Fast room temperature cloud point extraction procedure for spectrophotometric determination of phosphate in water samples,” Anal. Biochem., vol. 597, no. February, p. 113671, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113671.
[10] J. K. Salem and M. A. Draz, “Selective colorimetric nano-sensing solution for the determination of phosphate ion in drinking water samples,” Int. J. Environ. Anal. Chem., vol. 00, no. 00, pp. 1–10, 2020, doi: 10.1080/03067319.2019.1702168.
[11] N. Moonrungsee, S. Pencharee, and J. Jakmunee, “Colorimetric analyzer based on mobile phone camera for determination of available phosphorus in soil,” Talanta, vol. 136, pp. 204–209, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.01.024.
[12] H. X. Zhao, L. Q. Liu, Z. de Liu, Y. Wang, X. J. Zhao, and C. Z. Huang, “Highly selective detection of phosphate in very complicated matrixes with an off–on fluorescent probe of europium-adjusted carbon dots,” Chem. Commun., vol. 47, no. 9, pp. 2604–2606, 2011, doi: 10.1039/c0cc04399k.
[13] Q. Du, X. Zhang, H. Cao, and Y. Huang, “Polydopamine coated copper nanoclusters with aggregation-induced emission for fluorometric determination of phosphate ion and acid phosphatase activity,” Microchim. Acta, vol. 187, no. 6, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s00604-020-04335-2.
[14] M. A. Rahman, D. S. Park, S. C. Chang, C. J. McNeil, and Y. B. Shim, “The biosensor based on the pyruvate oxidase modified conducting polymer for phosphate ions determinations,” Biosens. Bioelectron., vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 1116–1124, 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2005.04.008.
[15] P. Franz, V. Gassl, A. Topf, L. Eckelmann, B. Iorga, and G. Tsiavaliaris, “A thermophoresis–based biosensor for real–time detection of inorganic phosphate during enzymatic reactions,” Biosens. Bioelectron., vol. 169, no. July, p. 112616, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112616.
[16] J. Murphy and J. P. Riley, “Determination Single Solution Method for the in Natural,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 27, pp. 31–36, 1962.
[17] J. E. Going and S. J. Eisenreich, “Spectrophotometric studies of reduced molybdoantimonylphosphoric acid,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 95–106, May 1974, doi: 10.1016/S0003-2670(01)82914-7.
[18] W. A. Dick and M. A. Tabatabai, “Kinetic parameters of phopsphates in soils and organic waste materials,” Soil Sci., vol. 137, no. 1, pp. 7–15, Jan. 1984, doi: 10.1097/00010694-198401000-00002.
[19] L. Drummond and W. Maher, “Determination of phosphorus in aqueous solution via formation of the phosphoantimonylmolybdenum blue complex. Re-examination of optimum conditions for the analysis of phosphate,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 302, no. 1, pp. 69–74, Feb. 1995, doi: 10.1016/0003-2670(94)00429-P.
[20] E. A. Nagul, I. D. McKelvie, P. Worsfold, and S. D. Kolev, “The molybdenum blue reaction for the determination of orthophosphate revisited: Opening the black box,” Anal. Chim. Acta, vol. 890, pp. 60–82, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2015.07.030.
[21] N. K. Ibnul and C. P. Tripp, “A solventless method for detecting trace level phosphate and arsenate in water using a transparent membrane and visible spectroscopy,” Talanta, vol. 225, p. 122023, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.122023.
[22] B. M. Jayawardane et al., “Evaluation and Application of a Paper-Based Device for the Determination of Reactive Phosphate in Soil Solution,” J. Environ. Qual., vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1081–1085, 2014, doi: 10.2134/jeq2013.08.0336.
[23] A. Y. El-Sayed, Y. Z. Hussein, and M. A. Mohammed, “Simultaneous determination of phosphate and silicate in detergents and waters by first-derivative spectrophotometry,” Analyst, vol. 126, no. 10, pp. 1810–1815, 2001, doi: 10.1039/b103159g.
[24] A. Charbaji, H. Heidari-Bafroui, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “A New Paper-Based Microfluidic Device for Improved Detection of Nitrate in Water,” Sensors, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 102, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.3390/s21010102.
[25] B. M. Jayawardane, I. D. McKelvie, and S. D. Kolev, “A paper-based device for measurement of reactive phosphate in water,” Talanta, vol. 100, pp. 454–460, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2012.08.021.
[26] J. M. Racicot, T. L. Mako, A. Olivelli, and M. Levine, “A Paper-Based Device for Ultrasensitive, Colorimetric Phosphate Detection in Seawater,” Sensors, vol. 20, no. 10, p. 2766, May 2020, doi: 10.3390/s20102766.
[27] B. Waghwani, S. Balpande, and J. Kalambe, “Development of microfluidic paper based analytical device for detection of phosphate in water,” Int. J. Innov. Technol. Explor. Eng., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 592–595, 2019.
[28] A. T. Lawal and S. B. Adeloju, “Polypyrrole Based Amperometric and Potentiometric Phosphate Biosensors: A Comparative Study,” J. Appl. Sci., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 315–325, Feb. 2012, doi: 10.3923/jas.2012.315.325.
[29] A. Puri and M. Kumar, “A review of permissible limits of drinking water,” Indian J. Occup. Environ. Med., vol. 16, no. 1, p. 40, 2012, doi: 10.4103/0019-5278.99696.
[30] G. A. Tsigdinos, H. Y. Chen, and B. J. Streusand, “Molybdate Solutions for Catalyst Preparation. Stability, Adsorption Properties, and Characterization,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev., vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 619–623, 1981, doi: 10.1021/i300004a007.
[31] J. Weiss and T. Weis, Handbook of Ion Chromatography, 3rd ed. New Jersey (NJ): John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2005.
[32] S. Kasetsirikul, M. J. A. Shiddiky, and N.-T. Nguyen, “Challenges and perspectives in the development of paper-based lateral flow assays,” Microfluid. Nanofluidics, vol. 24, no. 2, p. 17, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10404-020-2321-z.
[33] H. J. Motulsky and A. Christopoulos, Fitting models to biological data using linear and nonlinear regression. A practical guide to curve fitting. San Diego, CA: GraphPad Software Inc, 2003.
[34] P. Cao, Y. Zhu, W. Zhao, S. Liu, and H. Gao, “Chromaticity Measurement Based on the Image Method and Its Application in Water Quality Detection,” Water, vol. 11, no. 11, p. 2339, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.3390/w11112339.
[35] J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Statistics, and chemometrics for analytical chemistry, Fifth ed. Harlow, Essex England: Pearson Education Limited, 2005.
[36] H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, and M. Faghri, “Portable infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices,” Meas. J. Int. Meas. Confed., 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.measurement.2020.108607
@article{"International Journal of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Sciences:80323", author = "Hojat Heidari-Bafroui and Amer Charbaji and Constantine Anagnostopoulos and Mohammad Faghri", title = "A Highly Sensitive Dip Strip for Detection of Phosphate in Water", abstract = "Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant life which is most frequently found as phosphate in water. Once phosphate is found in abundance in surface water, a series of adverse effects on an ecosystem can be initiated. Therefore, a portable and reliable method is needed to monitor the phosphate concentrations in the field. In this paper, an inexpensive dip strip device with the ascorbic acid/antimony reagent dried on blotting paper along with wet chemistry is developed for the detection of low concentrations of phosphate in water. Ammonium molybdate and sulfuric acid are separately stored in liquid form so as to improve significantly the lifetime of the device and enhance the reproducibility of the device’s performance. The limit of detection and quantification for the optimized device are 0.134 ppm and 0.472 ppm for phosphate in water, respectively. The device’s shelf life, storage conditions, and limit of detection are superior to what has been previously reported for the paper-based phosphate detection devices.
", keywords = "Phosphate detection, paper-based device, molybdenum blue method, colorimetric assay. ", volume = "15", number = "5", pages = "60-5", }
