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Electrophoresis and Quartz Crystal Microbalance Instrumentation to Sense Nanoplastics in Water
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Researchers used electrophoresis and quartz crystal microbalance techniques to sense nanoplastics in solution, measuring their charge properties and mass deposition in real time. The combined approach enables sensitive detection and characterization of nanoplastics at low concentrations.
We report a Technical Note on detecting nanoplastics in water samples through electrophoresis and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) instrumentation. We conducted electrophoresis experiments by immersing a QCM in a sample of ultrapure water containing polyethylene (PE) nanoplastics. It was interesting to observe that nanoplastics were attracted toward the QCM and adhered to one side of the QCM electrode. The attached particles introduced mass loading to the QCM and were characterized by a decrease in resonance frequency of the crystal. Furthermore, when a small region around the center of electrode was alone exposed for direct contact in water and the rest of the electrode was masked using photoresist, the nanoplastics were concentrated only in the exposed electrode region, significantly enhancing detection sensitivity. To further investigate the applicability for real-life water samples, we experimented with the technique with readily available bottled drinking water and mineral water, where we spiked these water samples with nanoplastics. It was observed that the resonance frequency shifts were significantly larger for samples with nanoplastics compared to samples without nanoplastics. In addition, Raman spectroscopy and microscopy imaging were used to further confirm the presence and locations of nanoplastics on the electrode surface. This study highlights the combination of electrophoresis and QCM effectiveness in detecting nanoplastics across different water types and their potential for broader applications in environmental monitoring.
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