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Measuring particle size distribution and mass concentration of nanoplastics and microplastics: addressing some analytical challenges in the sub-micron size range
Summary
This technical review compared analytical methods for measuring particle size distribution and mass concentration of nano- and microplastics, identifying tunable resistive pulse sensing and centrifugal liquid sedimentation as the most suitable approaches for the 60 nm–5 µm size range.
Light scattering-based measurements do not have the resolution to distinguish multiple populations in polydisperse samples. Nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), nano-flowcytometry (nFCM) and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation hyphenated with multiangle light scattering (AF4-MALS) cannot measure particles in the micrometre range. Static light scattering (SLS) is not able to accurately detect particles below 200 nm, and similarly to transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and flow cytometry (FCM), is not suitable for accurate mass-based concentration measurements. Alternatives for high-resolution sizing and concentration measurements in the size range between 60 nm and 5 µm are tunable resistive pulse sensing (TRPS) and centrifugal liquid sedimentation (CLS), that can bridge the gap between the nanometre and micrometre range.