Real-time analysis and prediction method of ion concentration using the effect of O–H stretching bands in aqueous solutions based on ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

Abstract

Analyzing the concentration of ions in aqueous solutions in real-time plays an important role in the fields of chemistry and biology. Traditional methods for measuring ion concentrations, such as concentration analysis by measuring electrical conductivity, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and ion chromatography, have been used in many research fields. However, these methods are limited in determining ion concentrations instantaneously. Fourier-transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy provides a new approach for determining ion concentrations in aqueous solutions. This allows for fast analysis without pretreatment and is scalable for real-time measurements. In this study, we present a method for measuring ion concentrations by examining ion–water interactions in the O–H stretching band of aqueous solutions using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Five aqueous solutions, namely LiCl + HCl, LiOH + HCl, LiOH, Li₃PO₄, and NaCl were used in the experiments and prepared at concentrations between 0.5–2 M. The ion concentrations in the prepared aqueous solutions were measured using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. We observed that the difference in absorbance increased and decreased linearly with changes in concentration. The concentration of ions in the aqueous solution could be measured by validating the designed linear regression analysis function model. In this study, we proposed five linear regression analysis function models, all of which showed high coefficients of determination above 0.9, with the highest coefficient of determination reaching 0.9969. These results show that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy has the potential to be applied as a rapid and simple concentration analysis system.