Trace detection and photothermal spectral characterization by a tuneable thermal lens spectrometer with white-light excitation

A Differential Thermal Lens Spectrometry Method for Trace Detection

Thermal lens spectroscopy (TLS) is a high-sensitivity method to determine the concentration of light-absorbing species in samples. Here, we implemented a transient configuration of the technique, with a focused pump and a collimated probe beam coaxially propagating. A Fabry-Perot optical resonator is incorporated allowing multi-passing of the probe beam through the sample to enhance sensitivity. We show how the low detection limit of the method can be reduced approximately by half by making differential measurements of the signal at a far field in the center point of the probe beam spot and that obtained by spatial filtering of the same beam, the so-called eclipsed signal. Measurements were performed in test samples of Deyman's organic dye, Strawberry 2143 v.7, dissolved in ethanol. The thermal lens signal measured as a function of the dye concentration in water at the center of the beam was compared with the differential signal resulting from this and the eclipsed beam.

Thermal lens Z-scan measurements: theoretical and experimental uncertainties for low and high fluorescence quantum yields

The single-beam Z-scan thermal lens technique is conducted to evaluate the fluorescence quantum yield of various solutions in the case of high-moderate absorption, considering both scenarios: solutions with substantial fluorescence and solutions with high thermal efficiency but low fluorescence. An analytical calculation is performed to determine the uncertainties associated with the random errors introduced by optical detectors. The results reveal that solutions with low fluorescence lead to a significant error, whereas higher fluorescence can help in decreasing the uncertainty. Additionally, the issue of random errors arising when multiple measurements are needed to accurately estimate the fluorescence of a solution will be discussed in different situations.

Recent Progress and Applications of Thermal Lens Spectrometry and Photothermal Beam Deflection Techniques in Environmental Sensing

This paper presents recent development and applications of thermal lens microscopy (TLM) and beam deflection spectrometry (BDS) for the analysis of water samples and sea ice. Coupling of TLM detection to a microfluidic system for flow injection analysis (μFIA) enables the detection of microcystin-LR in waters with a four samples/min throughput (in triplicate injections) and provides an LOD of 0.08 µg/L which is 12-times lower than the MCL for microcystin-LR in water. μFIA-TLM was also applied for the determination of total Fe and Fe(II) in 3 µL samples of synthetic cloudwater. The LODs were found to be 100 nM for Fe(II) and 70 nM for total Fe. The application of µFIA-TLM for the determination of ammonium in water resulted in an LOD of 2.3 µM for injection of a 5 µL sample and TLM detection in a 100 µm deep microfluidic channel. For the determination of iron species in sea ice, the BDS was coupled to a diffusive gradient in the thin film technique (DGT). The 2D distribution of Fe(II) and total Fe on DGT gels provided by the BDS (LOD of 50 nM) reflected the distribution of Fe species in sea ice put in contact with DGT gels.

Online electrophoretic nanoanalysis using miniaturized gel electrophoresis and thermal lens microscopy detection

Online thermal lens microscopy (TLM) coupled with gel electrophoresis (GE) can represent a powerful tool for separating and detecting a wide range of biomaterials. Unlike slab gel electrophoresis (SGE), the proposed method does not require prolonged procedure between separation and detection. In this work, we developed an online monitoring GE system to separate and detect nanosized materials. The design is based on a homemade and cost-effective miniaturized GE chip (MGEC) integrated with real-time TLM detection through microcontroller-based digitization board platform. To validate the feasibility and practicability of the proposed approach, we evaluated its separation capability via employing synthesized Fe₃O₄-Au core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) which served remarkably for the proof-of-concept. The optimum conditions for the separation process were achieved through optimization of the excitation power as 30 mW, detection position at 24 mm, the concentration of agarose gel 0.5 % w/v, and 37.5 V/cm as the effective electric field strength. The findings showed that two populations of Fe₃O₄-Au, core-shell, and uncapped Fe₃O₄ NPs, were effectively separated in less than eleven minutes, demonstrating rapid assessment of the nanomaterial production quality. Moreover, other characterization techniques such as HRTEM and EDX were employed to confirm the presence of the two dissimilar kinds of NPs separated using MGEC-TLM. The sensitivity of the method was demonstrated by determining the limit of detection (23 pM) for 10 nm AuNPs. It is envisaged that our presented system enables rapid, economical, low volume of reagents consumption and high potential analysis for quality test in various bioanalytical and nanotechnological applications.

Photodegradation mechanisms of reactive blue 19 dye under UV and simulated solar light irradiation

In this work we performed dye photodegradation experiments in presence of TiO₂ and Cu/Zr modified TiO₂. The changes in the shape of the spectra of RB19 caused by photocatalysts under the simulated solar or UV light were monitored. Since the predominant photocatalytic mechanism can only be observed in very dilute solution of RB19, UV-Vis absorption spectrometry for higher concentrations and thermal lens spectrometry for lower concentrations have been applied to elucidate the mechanistic details of degradation processes. Bleaching of the dye was a characteristic feature, that occurred under both simulated solar and UV lights. It was also evident, that the absorption peak with maximum centered at 592 nm undergoes a slight blue shift during irradiation. The experiments carried out using UV and simulated solar light demonstrated, that two different processes responsible for the RB19 dye degradation occurred. In the initial stage of irradiation one of the processes appears under the UV light and can be recognized by a characteristic blue shift in the absorption spectrum of the solution. The second process is characteristic for irradiation by the simulated solar light which involve a blue shift at longer periods (100 min). These phenomena were attributed to the photocatalytic and photosensitization mechanisms, respectively. However, photocatalytic mechanism was also observed under simulated solar radiation, when the initial dye concentration was decreased to 5 mgL^-1, and was recognized by the increase of the thermal lens signal during the initial stages of degradation process. This was possible because the thermal lens spectroscopy technique provides a limit of quantification for RB19 at the concentration level of 0.12 mg L^-1, while UV-Vis spectrometry enables quantification of RB19 only down to 4 mg L^-1 levels.

Bovine serum albumin determination based on methylene blue detection by photothermal lens spectroscopy

We report on a new sensitive method, for bovine serum albumin quantification, which is based on the use of methylene blue as a labelling agent combined with photothermal lens detection. In the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, methylene blue forms a dimer which can react with bovine serum albumin producing dedimerization. We found that, the photothermal signal decreases proportional to the concentration of bovine serum albumin added to the system composed by dodecyl sulfate and methylene blue. Therefore, the change of the signal intensity is linearly proportional to the concentration of bovine serum albumin. Under the optimized analytical conditions, used in this work, the photothermal signal is linearly dependent on the concentration of bovine serum albumin in the range of 0.5 × 10^-6-7.5 × 10^-5 gmL^-1 with a regression coefficient R² = 0.9954. The relative standard deviation for BSA determination at 3.5 × 10^-5 gmL^-1 (n = 5) is 2.3% and the achieved detection limit is 3.5 × 10^-7 gmL^-1.

A Review of Photothermal Detection Techniques for Gas Sensing Applications

Photothermal spectroscopy (PTS) is a technique used for determining the composition of liquids, solids and gases. In PTS, the sample is illuminated with a radiation source, and the thermal response of the analyte (e.g., refractive index) is analyzed to gain information about its content. Recent advances in this unique method of detecting gaseous samples show that photothermal gas spectroscopy can be an interesting alternative to commonly used absorption techniques. Moreover, if designed properly, sensors using PTS detection technique can not only reach sensitivities comparable with other, more complex techniques, but can significantly simplify the design of the sensor. In this review, recent developments in photothermal spectroscopy of gases will be summarized and discussed.

Sensitive determination of DNA based on phosphate-dye interaction using photothermal lens technique

Photothermal lens spectrometry is a powerful optical detection technique that can be used to investigate biomolecules. In this work, for the first time to our knowledge, photothermal lens spectrometry was used for determination of nanomolar concentrations of three distinct deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strands using methylene blue as a labeling dye. Methylene blue interacts with phosphate groups of the DNA in lower DNA concentrations. It was observed that phosphate-methylene blue interaction had no obvious effect on methylene blue absorption and fluorescence spectra, but the photothermal lens spectrometry signal of methylene blue increased with DNA concentration. For this purpose, to evaluate the performance of the presented method, herring sperm DNA, Escherichia coli bacteria DNA, and partial 16S rRNA genes were examined. Under optimum conditions, photothermal lens spectrometry intensity of methylene blue increased linearly with DNA concentration when herring sperm DNA, Escherichia coli DNA, and 16S rRNA gene concentrations increased in the ranges of 0.1-250, 1-700, and 1-800  nmol L^-1, respectively. The corresponding detection limits were found to be 0.07, 0.71, and 0.56  nmol L^-1, respectively, and relative standard deviations for 50  nmol L^-1 of the tested samples were 2.59%, 4.95%, and 4.57%, respectively.

Demonstration of wavelength-scan-free action spectroscopy in pump/probe measurement with supercontinuum pump light

We devise and introduce the principle of wavelength-scan-free spectroscopy for the pump light in pump/probe measurement (action spectroscopy) using supercontinuum light; we demonstrate its implementation by measuring transmission spectra. We use the supercontinuum light noise as a code in order to discriminate wavelength. We extract the stimulation at the desired wavelength by correlating the noise at that wavelength observed separately and the observed total stimulation carried by the probe light. The wavelength-scan-free spectroscopy is enabled with a simultaneous procedure for multiple wavelengths.