January 30, 2013
Description
Build your own colorimeter! More details can (will eventually) be found at http://www.appropedia.org/Open-source_colorimeter. Note that present firmware only reports absorbance and transmittance; a calibration protocol is forthcoming.
More and better to come...
The STLs will build a case for a colorimeter and the electronics BOM will yield a device designed for performing high range Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) determination, measuring absorbance at 606 nm, an absorbance peak for the chromic ion. The cuvette holder is designed for Hach COD digestion vials.
The light source was specifically chosen for chromic ion determination; it can be altered to measure other ions (aquarist: think nitrates, ammonia and pH). We're working on other designs and useful applications and invite you to join us and share your designs.
Colorimeters are exceptionally handy items used for determining the concentration of dissolved species typically in aqueous solutions. The principles of operation are simple and form the backbone of several other analytic methods.
This is part of a larger project to reduce the cost of scientific
equipment using open-source hardware at Michigan Tech. Read a short
piece published by Science talking about it:
http://mtu.academia.edu/JoshuaPearce/Papers/1935580/Building_Research_Equipment_with_Free_Open-Source_Hardware. More open-source research tools:
http://www.thingiverse.com/jpearce/collections/open-source-scientific-tools.
License:
Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike
chowderhead
