DIY Microvolume Spectrophotometers

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DIYNanoDrop.jpg

Attempt to build DIY Microvolume Spectrophotometers or Fluorospectrometers to quantitate micro-volumes of sample. The NanoDrop products are very popular in scientific labs. The measurement principle of holding a drop between two points - the light source and the sensor - allows to measure samples as small as 0.5µL up to 2µL micro volume without a cuvette. The simple basic principle should be perfect for DIY lab equipment. Let's try.
To start simple, two approaches are tested, one using an LED and a photo sensor. The second, more advanced, using a DIY spectrometer.
Possible applications:

- Turbidity measurement
- Spectral data and purity analysis
- Measure nucleic acid, protein and colorimetric assays
- Microvolume fluorescence measurements


LED-Photosensor

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High performance LEDs can replace expensive light source and filters for excitation.



LED-Spectrometer

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