Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water
The pollution of the environment with microplastics in general, and in particular, the contamination of our drinking water and other food items, has increasingly become the focus of public attention in recent years. In order to better understand the entry pathways into the human food chain and thus...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/2/781 |
| _version_ | 1797437339097628672 |
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| author | Felix Glöckler Florian Foschum Alwin Kienle |
| author_facet | Felix Glöckler Florian Foschum Alwin Kienle |
| author_sort | Felix Glöckler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The pollution of the environment with microplastics in general, and in particular, the contamination of our drinking water and other food items, has increasingly become the focus of public attention in recent years. In order to better understand the entry pathways into the human food chain and thus prevent them if possible, a precise characterization of the particles concerning their size and material is indispensable. Particularly small plastic particles pose a special challenge since their material can only be determined by means of large experimental effort. In this work, we present a proof of principle experiment that allows the precise determination of the plastic type and the particle size in a single step. The experiment combines elastic light scattering (Mie scattering) with inelastic light scattering (Raman scattering), the latter being used to determine the plastic type. We conducted Monte Carlo simluations for the elastically scattered light for different kinds of plastics in a microfluidic cuvette which we could reproduce in the experiment. We were able to measure the Raman signals for different microplastics in the same measurement as the elastically scattered light and thereby determine their material. This information was used to select the appropriate Monte Carlo simulation data and to assign the correct particle size to different materials with only one calibration measurement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:17:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ff8e3c7e98544e1fac2ffad2ca3e148c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:17:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-ff8e3c7e98544e1fac2ffad2ca3e148c2023-12-01T00:27:30ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-01-0123278110.3390/s23020781Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in WaterFelix Glöckler0Florian Foschum1Alwin Kienle2Institute for Lasertechnologies in Medicine and Metrology (ILM), Helmholtzstr. 12, 89081 Ulm, GermanyInstitute for Lasertechnologies in Medicine and Metrology (ILM), Helmholtzstr. 12, 89081 Ulm, GermanyInstitute for Lasertechnologies in Medicine and Metrology (ILM), Helmholtzstr. 12, 89081 Ulm, GermanyThe pollution of the environment with microplastics in general, and in particular, the contamination of our drinking water and other food items, has increasingly become the focus of public attention in recent years. In order to better understand the entry pathways into the human food chain and thus prevent them if possible, a precise characterization of the particles concerning their size and material is indispensable. Particularly small plastic particles pose a special challenge since their material can only be determined by means of large experimental effort. In this work, we present a proof of principle experiment that allows the precise determination of the plastic type and the particle size in a single step. The experiment combines elastic light scattering (Mie scattering) with inelastic light scattering (Raman scattering), the latter being used to determine the plastic type. We conducted Monte Carlo simluations for the elastically scattered light for different kinds of plastics in a microfluidic cuvette which we could reproduce in the experiment. We were able to measure the Raman signals for different microplastics in the same measurement as the elastically scattered light and thereby determine their material. This information was used to select the appropriate Monte Carlo simulation data and to assign the correct particle size to different materials with only one calibration measurement.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/2/781microplasticMonte Carlo simulationsRaman spectroscopylight scattering |
| spellingShingle | Felix Glöckler Florian Foschum Alwin Kienle Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water Sensors microplastic Monte Carlo simulations Raman spectroscopy light scattering |
| title | Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water |
| title_full | Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water |
| title_fullStr | Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water |
| title_short | Continuous Sizing and Identification of Microplastics in Water |
| title_sort | continuous sizing and identification of microplastics in water |
| topic | microplastic Monte Carlo simulations Raman spectroscopy light scattering |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/2/781 |
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