ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Recent developments in smartphone-based sensors for the determination of ionic species

Javier E. Vilasó-Cadre, Caglar Berkel, Oguz Özbek, Onur Cem Altunoluk, and Iván A. Reyes-Domínguez

Institute of Metallurgy, Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

E-mail: jvilasocadre@gmail.com

Received: 31 May 2025  Accepted: 24 August 2025

Abstract:

With their global widespread adoption, smartphones have appeared as optimum platforms for standalone sensors, due to having both optical and electrochemical sensing capabilities and other inherent functionalities such as having integrated software, enabling on-site or real-time analysis, in a cost- and time-efficient manner. In this review, we covered studies reporting the recent advances in the use of smartphones in the development of colorimetric, fluorimetric, and electrochemical sensing systems for the analysis of diverse ionic species. We mentioned materials and reagents used in the design of these sensors, their working mechanisms, the instrumentation and data processing systems, their particular analytical performance parameters such as detection limit, and their implementation to the analysis of real samples, highlighting the main recent advances in the field, and also particular advantages, disadvantages and limitations associated with these sensors developed based on smartphone technology.

Keywords: Smartphone-based sensors; Colorimetric sensors; Fluorimetric sensors; Electrochemical sensors

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-025-04351-7

Chemical Papers 79 (12) 8227–8251 (2025)