This paper describes the development of a low-cost paper-based colorimetric analytical device for the accurate and rapid determination of sulfide. Under optimized conditions, Na2S was dropped in the uptake zone I and the probe in the uptake zone II, they converged to the detection zone via capillary force and formed an intense pink resorufin. Sulfide can be quantified based on the average color intensity values of the product “free resorufin”. The color intensity is recorded using a camera phone, and quantification was made using Adobe Photoshop. The as-developed analytical device detected sulfide in the range of 5–400 μM (R2 = 0.982) with the limit of detection (LOD) 1 μM, and was successfully applied in sulfide assay in spiked water samples including tap water and simulated waste water. Colorimetric results from the proposed paper-based colorimetric analytical device were consistent with that from methylene blue (MB) method.


Lingzhi Zhao