Abstract
The principle, instrumentation, and applications of a novel chemical measurement method based on reaction heat-induced optical beam deflection (OBD) have been discussed in detail. A theoretical equation that describes reaction heat-induced OBD for a very fast reaction (impulse reaction) is first derived by considering the thermal diffusion process. For a slow chemical reaction, its reaction heat-induced OBD signal is treated with the concept of convolution. The neutralization reaction is used as a model fast reaction for verification of the derived theoretical equation and investigation of the basic experimental conditions. It has been demonstrated that the magnitude of reaction heatinduced OBD is proportional to the amount of reactant, and the reaction rate can be deduced by analyzing the time decay curve of the reaction heat-induced OBD signal. Applications of the method to redox reaction and enzyme reaction systems have also been investigated. Furthermore, real time one dimensional imaging detection for reaction heat-induced OBD is also demonstrated. Further development and applications of the method are also discussed.
