Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University have developed a device for the rapid analysis of liquids on the content of hazardous substances such as heavy metals. Polytechnicers expend a method based on polymer optodes—very small plastic matrices that can be made sensitive to specific substances by means of special reagents. The matrices change color and intensity depending on the concentration of the substance. The device is mobile,can carry out analysis in situ even at low temperatures, and its cost is many times less than the price of a spectrophotometer—the most frequently used device for chemical analysis.
Source: phys.org