Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Dyeing to Know: Optimizing Solvents for Nile Red Fluorescence in Microplastics Analysis

Researchers investigated how the choice of solvent affects Nile Red fluorescence staining for microplastic identification, optimizing solvent conditions to improve the reliability of fluorescence-based classification of microplastic polymer types in environmental samples.

2024
Article Tier 2

Dyeing to Know: Harmonizing Nile Red Staining Protocols for Microplastic Identification

Researchers systematically evaluated eight carrier solvents for Nile Red fluorescence staining to improve microplastic identification and classification. The study identified an acetone-water mixture as the optimal solvent, balancing strong fluorescence performance with minimal polymer degradation, and demonstrated that Fenton oxidation effectively eliminated false-positive fluorescence from natural organic materials.

2025 Colorants 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Dyeing to Know: Optimizing Solvents for Nile Red Fluorescence in Microplastics Analysis

Researchers investigated how solvent choice influences Nile Red fluorescence staining for microplastic detection, optimizing conditions for polarity-dependent fluorescence to enable more accurate polymer classification in large-scale environmental microplastic sampling.

2024
Article Tier 2

Nile Red Staining as a Subsidiary Method for Microplastic Quantifica-tion: A Comparison of Three Solvents and Factors Influencing Application Reliability

This study evaluated Nile Red fluorescent staining as a method for quantifying microplastics in environmental samples, comparing it to traditional identification techniques. The approach can help distinguish microplastics from organic particles more quickly and cost-effectively, supporting higher-throughput microplastic analysis in environmental monitoring programs.

2017 SDRP Journal of Earth Sciences & Environmental Studies 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive assessment of factors influencing Nile red staining: Eliciting solutions for efficient microplastics analysis

Researchers conducted a comprehensive assessment of Nile red staining for microplastic analysis and found that wavelength, temperature, hydrogen peroxide treatment, NaCl addition, and plastic polymer type all significantly influence staining efficiency, proposing solutions to improve detection accuracy.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of Nile Red-Stained Microplastics through Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Researchers developed an improved method for characterizing microplastics using Nile Red fluorescent staining combined with fluorescence spectroscopy. They found that different plastic polymers produce distinct fluorescent signatures when stained, enabling more reliable identification of plastic types. The technique offers a faster and more affordable alternative to traditional microplastic detection methods, which could help scale up environmental monitoring efforts.

2024 Preprints.org 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Nile Red Staining as a Subsidiary Method for Microplastic Quantifica-tion: A Comparison of Three Solvents and Factors Influencing Application Reliability

Researchers compared three solvents — acetone, chloroform, and n-hexane — for Nile Red fluorescent staining of microplastics across multiple polymer types and post-consumer materials, finding chloroform most effective with an 83.3% recovery rate, though the method falls short of the reliability of Raman or FTIR spectroscopy.

2017 SDRP Journal of Earth Sciences & Environmental Studies 107 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of intrinsic plastics characteristics on Nile Red staining and fluorescence

Researchers evaluated Nile Red fluorescent staining performance on 60 plastic particles from sandy beaches, finding that polymer type, weathering degree, and crystallinity did not significantly affect fluorescence intensity, but particle color did — with blue, green, and red particles showing lower fluorescence and white, yellow, and orange particles showing higher fluorescence. The findings suggest that plastic pigments interfere with Nile Red detection, complicating standardization of microplastic identification methods.

2023 Journal of Sea Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Labeling Microplastics with Fluorescent Dyes for Detection, Recovery, and Degradation Experiments

Researchers optimized fluorescent dye staining protocols for labeling 17 different plastic polymer types using four textile dyes and Nile red for detection, recovery, and degradation experiments. Dye performance varied significantly by polymer type and staining conditions, and standardized protocols were recommended to improve comparability across microplastic studies.

2022 Molecules 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification and quantification of microplastics using Nile Red staining

Researchers tested Nile Red staining as a method for identifying and quantifying microplastics in environmental samples, finding it useful for rapid screening but noting limitations in distinguishing plastics from non-plastic particles.

2016 Marine Pollution Bulletin 579 citations
Article Tier 2

Nile Red staining for the detection of microplastics: a comprehensive study on the emission spectra

This study systematically characterized how Nile Red fluorescence spectra vary across different polymer types, pigments, weathering states, and surface roughness, providing a more comprehensive reference for using Nile Red staining to identify microplastics in environmental samples.

2023 Research Square (Research Square) 8 citations
Article Tier 2

The potential of fluorescent dyes—comparative study of Nile red and three derivatives for the detection of microplastics

Researchers compared Nile red and three newly developed fluorescent dye derivatives for staining microplastics, finding that the derivatives achieved greater selectivity for plastic particles and more intense fluorescence than standard Nile red, improving detection sensitivity.

2021 Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 106 citations
Article Tier 2

Analyzing microplastics with Nile Red: Emerging trends, challenges, and prospects

This review evaluates the Nile Red staining technique as an analytical method for identifying and quantifying microplastics in environmental samples. The study concludes that while Nile Red has emerged as a viable low-cost alternative to visual identification for microplastics research, not everything that fluoresces is plastic, so additional spectroscopic analysis is needed to validate results.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 273 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Efficacy of Nile Red in Microplastic Quantification: A Costaining Approach

This study assessed the effectiveness of Nile Red, a fluorescent dye commonly used to detect microplastics, by comparing it with other staining approaches and evaluating detection accuracy. The research found that costaining strategies and careful protocol standardization can improve the reliability of Nile Red-based microplastic quantification.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 168 citations
Article Tier 2

Preparation of biological samples for microplastic identification by Nile Red

This study optimized sample preparation procedures for Nile Red staining of microplastics in biological matrices, identifying interfering substances and developing pre-treatment steps that improve fluorescence staining specificity.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 71 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic detection and identification by Nile red staining: Towards a semi-automated, cost- and time-effective technique

Researchers developed a semi-automated, cost-effective method for microplastic detection using Nile red fluorescent staining, showing it can significantly reduce the time and expense of identifying microplastics compared to traditional spectroscopic approaches.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 176 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection limits are central to improve reporting standards when using Nile red for microplastic quantification

Researchers evaluated the efficacy of Nile red fluorescent staining for quantifying microplastics, demonstrating that polymer-specific differences in fluorescent response create variable detection limits that undermine the comparability and reproducibility of MP quantification across studies. The authors call for standardized reporting of detection limits when using Nile red to improve data quality in microplastic research.

2020 Chemosphere 101 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of Nile Red-Stained Microplastics through Fluorescence Spectroscopy

This study tested a method for detecting microplastics using a fluorescent dye called Nile Red, which makes plastic particles glow under certain light. The researchers found that different types of plastic produce distinct glow patterns, which could help scientists identify what kind of plastic they are looking at. Better detection tools like this are important for tracking microplastic contamination in the environment and understanding human exposure.

2024 Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring Nile Red staining as an analytical tool for surface-oxidized microplastics

Scientists evaluated Nile Red, a fluorescent dye commonly used to detect microplastics, and found it works differently depending on whether microplastics have been weathered by the environment. Surface oxidation from aging in the environment changes how well the dye sticks to plastics, which means current detection methods may be undercounting weathered microplastics in environmental samples.

2025 Environmental Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimization of sample preparation, fluorescence- and Raman techniques for environmental microplastics

Researchers optimized methods for preparing and analyzing environmental microplastic samples using fluorescence staining with Nile Red dye and Raman spectroscopy. The study found that while fluorescence can broadly categorize plastics as polar or non-polar, Raman spectroscopy with a deep-UV laser was needed to reliably identify all polymer types, including those pigmented with carbon black.

2024 Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of selective fluorescence for the characterization of microplastic fibers: Use of a Nile Red-based analytical method to compare between natural and synthetic fibers

Researchers developed a Nile Red fluorescence method to distinguish natural from synthetic microplastic fibers, demonstrating that selective fluorescence staining combined with spectral analysis can improve identification accuracy for fiber-type microplastics across different environments.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Modification of a Nile Red Staining Method for Microplastics Analysis: A Nile Red Plate Method

Researchers developed a modified Nile Red staining method — the 'Nile Red plate method' (NR-P) — in which plates are pre-coated with Nile Red dye rather than staining microplastics directly, overcoming limitations of the standard method when organic matter residues interfere with particle staining. They optimised the NR solution concentration at 1000 mg/L and confirmed the method's effectiveness across multiple common polymer types.

2020 Water 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimizing the Concentration of Nile Red for Screening of Microplastics in Drinking Water

This study optimized the concentration of Nile red fluorescent dye for pre-screening microplastics in drinking water, establishing a protocol that balances detection sensitivity with background fluorescence to improve accuracy in identifying plastic particles.

2023 ACS ES&T Water 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Easy and accessible way to calibrate a fluorescence microscope and to create a microplastic identification key

Researchers developed a straightforward fluorescence microscopy calibration method using Nile Red dye and a morphology-based identification key to reduce subjectivity in microplastic detection across different laboratory setups. The protocol lowers the cost and expertise barrier for routine microplastic monitoring.

2023 MethodsX 24 citations