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Fiber Laser-Backscattered Optofluidic Sensor for Ultrasensitive and Wide-Range Nanoplastic Quantification
Summary
Scientists have built a new laser-based sensor that can detect and measure incredibly tiny plastic particles—down to 20 nanometers, far smaller than a human cell—in water samples. This matters because nanoplastics are so small they can potentially slip into our bloodstream and organs, but until now we've lacked easy, portable tools to even detect them at these tiny sizes; this device could help scientists monitor plastic pollution in drinking water and the environment more accurately, which is a key step toward understanding how much of this stuff we're actually exposed to.
We report a fiber laser-backscattered optofluidic sensor (FLOS) for label-free, non-destructive quantification of nanoplastics (NPLs) from 20 nm to 1000 nm. A Mie-regime detection model reveals optimal sensitivity at 200 nm due to constructive interference of backward scattering modes. The sensor integrates a high-NA fiber probe (NA = 0.37) with a fiber-embedded optofluidic chip, achieving a limit of detection of 0.021 µg/mL for 200 nm polystyrene NPLs. Universal applicability to five polymer types and operational robustness in natural water matrices are demonstrated, establishing a new platform for on-site NPLs monitoring.