Movable optical sensor for automatic detection and monitoring of liquid–liquid interfaces

Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) is an essential operation in many laboratory experiments. However, most automatic LLE devices concentrate on detecting the liquid–liquid interface at one moment in the process, usually at separation, and pay little attention to the state of the liquids as they settle. In this paper, we present an LLE device with a moving optical sensor and light source that move along a vessel instead of the mixture moving relative to the sensor. Analyzing the patterns of light intensity with explainable automatic detection algorithms, the interface can be detected at different positions in the vessel with an error below 2 mm and monitored during the settling process. The device is tested using a mixture of clear oil and water and two extraction steps in a battery interface material synthesis process. Results show that the setup is able to detect interfaces at different positions along the vessel, even with changes in diameter. By monitoring the settling process, we also found that the biggest change in the signal detected occurs around the liquid–liquid interface position, and we also use this information to corroborate it. The recording of sensor measurements at different positions over time can be used to detect different properties of the liquids, which improves control over the process and could also alleviate reproducibility problems in areas of chemistry in which it is costly to repeat procedures.