Review of Student-Built Spectroscopy Instrumentation Projects

Abstract

One challenge of teaching chemical analysis is the proliferation of sophisticated, but often impenetrable, instrumentation in the modern laboratory. Complex instruments, and the software that runs them, distance students from the physical and chemical processes that generate the analytical signal. A solution to this challenge is the introduction of a student-driven instrument-building project. Visible absorbance spectroscopy is well-suited to such a project due to its relative simplicity and the ubiquity of absorbance measurements. This Article reviews simple instructor- and student-built instruments for spectroscopy, providing an overview of common designs, components, and applications. This comprehensive summary includes options that are suitable for in-person or remote learning with K–12 students and undergraduates in general chemistry, analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and electronics courses.

Hands-on experiences for remotely taught analytical chemistry laboratories

“…Most of the materials needed to complete the experiment are inexpensive or common laboratory consumablesexcept for the spectrophotometers, which can be prohibitively expensive (currently, $399). Alternative fluorometric and spectrophotometric setups at a fraction of the cost have been experimented with, building on others' work using LED excitation sources, 3D-printed structures, and smartphone cameras, or photoresistors, for detectors [6][7][8][9]; however, these methods were not deployed in remote laboratory learning for Fall 2020.…”

Learning about Fluorescence in Undergraduate Biochemistry: Enzyme Kinetics Using a Low-Cost, Student-Built Fluorescence Spectrometer

“…35 Other designs are also reported in the literature. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]30,31 In this work, we constructed a custom single-beam fluorometer primarily of interlocking building bricks, optimized for NADH detection. When designing a fluorometer, we prioritized four characteristics: low cost, high NADH sensitivity, high NADH fluorescence dynamic range, and facile construction by students in a laboratory setting.…”

An open-source dual-beam spectrophotometer for citizen-science-based water quality monitoring

“…For the sake of large scale implementation, we aim for a pedagogical, effective, minimally sophisticated alternative, along the lines of DIY and classroom solutions (excellently summarized by Ref. [19] ), to be specifically: Affordable and accessible for researchers and citizen scientists. Reliably accurate for the needs of large scale field monitoring.…”