Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

A rapid-screening approach to detect and quantify microplastics based on fluorescent tagging with Nile Red

Researchers developed a rapid fluorescent screening method using Nile Red dye to detect and quantify microplastics in environmental samples, finding it significantly faster than conventional methods while maintaining reasonable accuracy.

2017 Scientific Reports 897 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of an Inexpensive and Comparable Microplastic Detection Method Using Fluorescent Staining with Novel Nile Red Derivatives

Researchers developed an inexpensive fluorescent staining method using novel Nile Red derivatives for microplastic detection, validating it by measuring microplastics in German wastewater treatment plant effluent over one year with improved precision and selectivity.

2023 Analytica—A Journal of Analytical Chemistry and Chemical Analysis 41 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

Rapid detection of microplastic contamination using Nile red fluorescent tagging

Researchers developed a rapid microplastic detection method using Nile Red (NR) fluorescent staining combined with zinc chloride density-based extraction and filtration for analysis of coastal marine sediment samples. The approach was cross-validated against conventional light microscopy, demonstrating improved speed and sensitivity for identifying microplastics of various sizes in environmental sediment matrices.

2024 International Journal of Biosciences (IJB)
Article Tier 2

Towards a low-cost, rapid microplastic optical detection system using fluorescent staining through Nile Red for in situ ocean deployment

This study presents a proof-of-concept for a portable, low-cost microplastic detection device that uses fluorescent dye (Nile Red) and a simple optical sensor to detect plastic particles in water. The system produced a signal that scaled linearly with microplastic concentration in lab tests. Development of cheap, field-deployable sensors like this could dramatically improve our ability to monitor microplastic pollution in real time across oceans and waterways, where current lab-based methods are too expensive and slow for widespread use.

2023 2 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

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

Rapid detection of nanoplastics and small microplastics by Nile-Red staining and flow cytometry

Researchers developed a rapid method for detecting nanoplastics and small microplastics by combining Nile-Red fluorescent staining with flow cytometry. The technique can quantify plastic particles in the 0.6 to 15 micrometer range in just 90 seconds, which is hundreds of times faster than conventional spectroscopic methods. The approach showed high detection efficiency for polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, and polystyrene, offering a practical tool for environmental nanoplastic monitoring.

2022 Environmental Chemistry Letters 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Nile Red lifetime reveals microplastic identity

Researchers developed a fluorescence lifetime imaging approach using the dye Nile Red that can distinguish microplastic particles from biological and mineral debris based on their distinct fluorescence lifetimes, offering faster and more specific microplastic identification than conventional methods.

2020 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Suitability of Nile Red Dye for In-Situ Microplastic Detection

This thesis evaluated the suitability of Nile Red fluorescent dye for detecting microplastics in environmental samples, examining its effectiveness and limitations for field use. Accurate and affordable detection methods are essential for tracking plastic pollution in oceans and waterways.

2023
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

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 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

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

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

Assessment of microplastics using microfluidic approach

Researchers developed a microfluidic chip-based method using Nile red fluorescent staining to detect and count microplastic particles, offering a faster and less expensive alternative to conventional microscopy and spectroscopy approaches for environmental monitoring.

2022 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 28 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

Nile red staining for rapid screening of plastic-suspect particles in edible seafood tissues

Researchers developed a faster method for detecting microplastics in seafood using a fluorescent dye called Nile red, which makes plastic particles glow under special light. The technique correctly identified about 72% of suspected plastic particles in fish and shrimp samples, making it useful for large-scale screening. Faster detection methods like this are important for monitoring how much microplastic contamination is present in the seafood people eat.

2024 Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Highly efficient Nile red staining for the rapid quantification of microplastic number concentrations using flow cytometry

Scientists developed an improved method for staining microplastics with a fluorescent dye (Nile red) that embeds the dye inside the plastic particles rather than just coating the surface, resulting in much brighter and more reliable detection. Combined with high-speed flow cytometry, the technique can rapidly count microplastic particles smaller than 10 µm in environmental water samples with recovery rates above 99%. Faster and more accurate counting methods like this are important for scaling up microplastic monitoring across many water sources.

2025 Analytical Methods 1 citations
Article Tier 2

In Situ Fluorescent Illumination of Microplastics in Water Utilizing a Combination of Dye/Surfactant and Quenching Techniques

Researchers developed an in situ fluorescent microplastic detection method using a nonpolar dye combined with surfactant to form nanoscale dye particles that selectively adsorb onto and penetrate plastic polymer matrices in water, then quenched free dye fluorescence using aniline to enable direct visualization of stained microplastics without filtration.

2022 Polymers 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

Detection of polystyrene nanoplastics in biological samples based on the solvatochromic properties of Nile red: application in Hydra attenuata exposed to nanoplastics

A fluorescence-based method using the dye Nile Red was validated for detecting polystyrene nanoplastics in biological tissues, including a characteristic color shift when nanoplastics are present in a cellular extract. This method could enable routine screening of tissues for nanoplastic contamination at the subcellular level.

2019 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 54 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