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Enhanced optical fiber sensing of microplastics using a WCrO 3 coated tapered geometry
Summary
Scientists have developed a highly sensitive fiber-optic sensor coated with a special material (WCrO3) that can detect tiny plastic particles, potentially even in seafood. In lab-based computer simulations, the sensor showed strong sensitivity to microplastics, which matters because these particles are increasingly found in the food we eat and their health effects are still being studied. While promising, this is early-stage research based on simulations and modeling, so real-world testing is still needed before it could be used to routinely check seafood safety.
Abstract Ensuring seafood safety from microplastics (MPs) contamination has emerged as a significant concern in environmental and public health monitoring. Different SPR techniques have been used for MPs detection but fiber-based designs with advanced sensing materials are not widely developed for real time detection. To address this need, we propose a highly sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)–based optical fiber sensor incorporating a novel WCrO 3 sensing layer for the detection of microplastics. The chosen sensing layer offers exceptional dielectric properties, a tunable bandgap, structural stability, and strong adsorption characteristics which make it suitable for MPs detection. Finite Element Method (FEM)-based simulations were performed to analyze the SPR spectrum by considering the essential performance metrics such as electric field distribution, modal loss, resonance wavelength shift, and sensitivity. The proposed sensor demonstrates a high refractive index sensitivity of 7112 nm RIU −1 . This study also provides a first-principles (DFT) investigation to examine the optical properties and adsorption behavior of ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) which is the fundamental unit of polyethylene microplastics as a representative probe molecule on the WCrO 3 (110) surface. Finding reveals that the structural stability of the WCrO 3 monolayer was maintained after adsorption of microplastic with no significant distortions observed, validating WCrO 3 as a promising biosensing layer for MPs detection. This work establishes WCrO 3 -coated SPR fibers as a scalable platform for seafood safety monitoring.