journal article·2025-12-05Open access

A Traveling Multi-Analyte Chemosensor Based on Wet-Chemical Colorimetry for Shipboard Seawater Analysis

Jianzhang Wang, Yingxia Wu, Jian Zhang, Shengli Wang, Hongliang Wang

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 24

Abstract

Continuous monitoring of seawater nutrients is crucial for marine resource research and conservation, yet it faces challenges due to the constraints of offshore working conditions. We developed a multi-analyte sensor based on flow analysis technology, which integrates wet-chemical colorimetry/fluorometry for the simultaneous in situ determination of nitrite, nitrate, ammonium, silicate, and phosphate in seawater. To mitigate bubble interference, an integrated gas-trapping cavity was designed, and a data-cleaning algorithm based on the interquartile range method was implemented. In June 2025, a sea trial was conducted at two stations in the northern South China Sea, the results of which showed high consistency with laboratory standard methods: the maximum absolute relative errors were 1.79% for nitrite, 5.01% for nitrate, 1.42% for ammonium, 5.93% for phosphate, and 2.95% for silicate. The performance under real marine conditions is demonstrated by relative errors below 6% and linear correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999 for all parameters. This research demonstrates a practical approach for in situ marine observation.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Marine and coastal ecosystems · Analytical Chemistry and Sensors · Water Quality Monitoring and Analysis

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China

National Deep Sea Center, Qingdao 266237, China

Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Deep-Sea Biological Resources Exploration and Utilization, National Deep Sea Center, Qingdao 266237, China

School of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China

School of Ocean at Yantai University, Yantai University, Yantai 264003, China

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China · Key R&D Program of Shandong Province, China

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