A Hydrogel’s Formation Device for Quick Analysis of Liquid Samples Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique has irreplaceable advantages in the field of detection due to its multi-phase specimen detection ability. The development of the LIBS technique for liquid analysis is obstructed by its inherent drawbacks like the surface ripples and extinction of emitted intensity, which make it unpractical. In this work, an in-situ hydrogel formation sampling device was designed and used the hydrogel as the detection phase of LIBS for Cu, Cr and Al in an aqueous solution. With the measured amount of resin placed in the device, the formed hydrogel could be obtained within 20 s after putting the device into water solution. The formed hydrogel could be directly analyzed by LIBS and reflect the elemental information of the water sample. The prominent performance made this hydrogel’s formation device especially suitable for quick in-situ environmental liquid analysis using LIBS.