Development of an unmanned device with picric acid strip for on-site rapid detections of sodium cyanide in marine water

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a rapid detection method using picric acid test strip for detection of sodium cyanide in ocean water was established, and an automatic-integrated detection device was set up, which can be mounted on an unmanned surface vehicle. The optimal detection conditions were set as follows: for a 100-ml seawater sample, the weight of tartaric acid solid was 1.5 g, 1–2 drops of 150 g/L sodium carbonate were used to soak the picric acid test strip, the heating temperature was 80 °C, and the heating time was 5 min. Under the optimal conditions, the test result was satisfactory and the detection limit of the method achieved was 0.3 mg/L. This method realizes the remote and rapid detection of sodium cyanide in seawater, which greatly improves the detection efficiency and does not require any personnel to enter the contaminated site. It can be widely used for rapid detection scenarios such as leakage accidents from overseas transportation, lake pollution emergencies and on-site screening.