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Influx of Near-Infrared Technology in Microplastic Community: A Bibliometric Analysis

Microplastics 2023 13 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Monika Rani, Serena Ducoli, Stefania Federici, Laura E. Depero

Summary

This bibliometric analysis mapped the growing use of near-infrared spectroscopy for microplastic identification, finding it is emerging as a practical, portable alternative to FTIR spectroscopy for field-based polymer analysis.

The abundance of microplastics in the environment poses a constant threat to all parts of the ecosystem, and the scientific community is called upon to help solve the problem. Numerous studies have been published for microplastic analysis, especially in the last decade, with vibrational spectroscopy being the preferred method. According to recent literature, portable spectrometers operating in the near-infrared (NIR) range are being used for the analysis of different types of polymers, and this technique has recently found its way into the analysis of microplastics as a good alternative to expensive and complicated benchtop instruments, such as Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. The aim of this study is to investigate and evaluate research trends, leading publications, authors, countries, and limitations of the use of NIR spectroscopy in microplastics research, with a comparison to the established FTIR technique.

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