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Microplastics detection with microfluidics integrated with a microwave sensor
Summary
Researchers developed a microwave sensor integrated with a microfluidic channel for real-time microplastics detection in water, using finite-element simulations to optimize sensitivity and validating performance experimentally. The system achieved a sensitivity of 0.1 dB and detected microplastics as small as 600 micrometers through measurement of reflected signal variations.
This paper reports the development of a microwave sensor integrated with a microfluidic channel allowing for real-time microplastics detection in water. The developed system measures the variations of the reflected signal when microplastics are present in water. Initially, finite-element simulations were performed to optimize the sensor's sensitivity when microplastics are present. In the end, the microwave sensor was tested, and the sensor showed a sensitivity of 0.1 dB in the microplastics' presence with a minimum size of 600 μm.