Low-cost handheld NIR spectroscopy for identification of organic solvents and low-level quantification of water contamination

Quality control of liquid raw materials arriving on an industrial manufacturing site is typically performed in a dedicated laboratory using time- and chemicals-consuming analytical methods. Herein, we report the successful development of a handheld near-infrared spectroscopy method for the rapid, low-cost testing of organic solvents. Our methodology enables the classification of organic solvents with 100% accuracy and the quantification of water in methyl ethyl ketone with a precision of ~0.01 wt% in the 0-0.25 wt% range. The accessory that we have developed for the NIR sensor enables the development of a broad range of sensing applications on organic liquid systems.