DUNI: A Portable Smartphone-Coupled Integrating Sphere for Controlled Illumination and Reliable Colorimetric Sensing: Analytical Applications

The use of smartphones as analytical instruments is becoming increasingly widespread due to their ease of use and low cost. However, it has limitations, such as dependence on the smartphone's sensor, the light source and the environment, which hinders the reproducibility and comparability of results. This paper presents the development of a portable device, called DUNI, which can be attached to any smartphone and is designed to overcome these limitations. The device, manufactured using 3D printing and with an average cost of €35, consists of an integrating sphere, which incorporates a lighting-electronic system, as well as accessories for measuring on different surfaces. It has been optimised by evaluating the influence of the optical geometry, the size and reflective coating of the sphere, the lighting conditions, and the electronic stability on measurement performance. It has been applied to the determination of hydrogen peroxide and biogenic amines in synthetic samples, achieving relative errors of less than 5% and detection limits between 3 and 6 µM. Overall, the device we have developed constitutes a portable, versatile and low-cost platform that enables quantitative colorimetric measurements using smartphones under controlled lighting conditions, with potential applications in on-site analysis and resource-limited settings.