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Advanced Optical Imaging Technologies for Microplastics Identification: Progress and Challenges
Summary
This review surveys advanced optical imaging technologies used to identify microplastics and nanoplastics in environmental samples. Researchers compared techniques like Raman spectroscopy, infrared imaging, and fluorescence microscopy, noting their strengths and limitations for detecting increasingly small particles. The study highlights that improving detection methods is essential for accurately monitoring the full scope of plastic pollution.
Global concern about microplastic (MP) and nanoplastic (NP) particles is continuously rising with their proliferation worldwide. Effective identification methods for MP and NP pollution monitoring are highly needed, but due to different requirements and technical challenges, much of the work is still in progress. Herein, the advanced optical imaging systems that are successfully applied or have the potential for MP identification are focused on. Compared with chemical and thermal analyses, optical methods have the unique advantages of being nondestructive and noncontact and allow fast detection without complex sample preprocessing. Furthermore, they are capable of revealing the morphology, anisotropy, and material characteristics of MP for their quick and robust detection. This review aims to present a comprehensive discussion of the relevant optical imaging systems, emphasizing their operating principles, strengths, and drawbacks. Multiple comparisons and analyses among these technologies are conducted in order to provide practical guidelines for researchers. In addition, the combination of optical and other alternative technologies is described and the representative portable MP detection devices are highlighted. Together, they shed light on the prospects for long‐term MP pollution monitoring and environmental protection.