The application of barcode readable assay and linear regression RGB analysis using a customized smartphone app in on-chip electromembrane extraction for simultaneous determination of heavy metal ions

This paper presents an on-chip electromembrane extraction (OC-EME) followed by RGB analysis with a barcode-readable customized app for the determination of three heavy metal ions; Cr(VI), Ni(ΙΙ), and Cu(ΙΙ) in water samples. First, the OC-EME procedure was performed on a single transparent platform including three divided channels for extraction of analytes and subsequently complex formation with chromogenic reagents. The RGB values of colorful complexes were then analyzed by Photoshop software and green value intensities of all three colors showed the best concentration dependence signal. Effective parameters such as the composition of supported liquid membrane (SLM), the voltage of extraction, the composition of donor and acceptor solutions, sample volume, and flow rate were investigated and optimized. Also, a smartphone app was developed for RGB analysis on a barcode-readable program to detect and quantify the extracted heavy metal(s). A fast, easy, and accurate quantification analysis was offered using principal component analysis (PCA) and a trained linear regression model. Under optimized conditions, good calibration fittings were observed within the ranges of 0.05–1.5 mg l−1 for Cr(VI), 1.0–70.0 mg l−1 for Ni(II), and 0.5–30.0 mg l−1 for Cu(II) via the customized app. Intra- and inter-day RSDs% of the method were obtained less than 6.9 % and 7.8 %, respectively. Finally, the proposed procedure was successfully applied for the analysis of target ions in water samples with relative recoveries between 85.0 % and 116.4 %.