Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Advances and prospects of carbon dots for microplastic analysis

This review assessed the potential of carbon dots, luminescent nanomaterials derived from carbon sources, as tools for microplastic detection and analysis in food and environmental samples, offering advantages in sensitivity and selectivity over conventional methods. The authors identify carbon dot-based sensing as a promising direction for filling the gap in standardized microplastic analytical methods.

2022 Chemosphere 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent molecular rotor-based probes for sensitive and selective detection of nanoplastics in food, environment, and living cells

Researchers developed two molecular rotor-based fluorescent probes that selectively detect oppositely charged nanoplastics through hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. The probes demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for nanoplastics in food, environmental, and live cell samples, providing a new tool for nanoplastic detection.

2025 Food Chemistry
Article Tier 2

A photoluminescence strategy for detection nanoplastics in water and biological imaging in cells and plants

Researchers developed a fluorescent probe that can rapidly detect nanoplastics in water samples down to very low concentrations. The probe works by binding to nanoplastic surfaces through electrical and chemical interactions, which causes it to glow, enabling both detection and visual tracking in cells and plant tissues. This tool could help scientists better monitor nanoplastic contamination in water and understand how these tiny particles move through living organisms.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Selective Identification and Quantification of Microplastics Using Solid Fluorescent Green Carbon Dots (SFGCDs) – A Novel, Naked Eye Sensing Fluoroprobe

Researchers developed a novel fluorescent carbon dot probe that can selectively detect and quantify microplastics released from surgical face masks and cosmetic cleansers. The probe works through a fluorescence turn-off mechanism when microplastics are present, with a detection limit as low as 0.0063 g/L for particles 6 micrometers and larger. The study also demonstrated a simple filtration-based remediation approach, with the fluorescence signal recovering after microplastic removal.

2025 Journal of Fluorescence 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Principles, performance and emerging trends for optical detection of environmental microplastics: A review

This review summarizes recent advances in optical detection methods for identifying microplastics in environmental samples, covering both spectroscopic techniques like Raman and infrared spectroscopy and fluorescence-based approaches using dyes such as Nile red. Researchers highlight how machine learning is improving the accuracy and efficiency of spectroscopic identification. The study also evaluates emerging fluorescent materials like carbon dots for specific microplastic identification and environmental behavior tracing.

2026 Talanta
Article Tier 2

Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots Derived from Onion Peel (Allium cepa) for Fluorescence-Based Detection of Microplastics

Researchers synthesized fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots from onion peel and used them to detect high-density and low-density polyethylene microplastics, finding that the particles produced excitation-dependent fluorescence that enabled selective detection of both plastic types.

2025
Article Tier 2

Identification of Nanoplastics by Probing the Viscous Nanoenvironment

Researchers developed a cationic fluorescent probe that detects nanoplastics by sensing the viscous nanoenvironment surrounding them rather than reacting with the particle surface, enabling sensitive detection of nanoplastics without relying on conventional reactive functional groups.

2025 Small Science
Article Tier 2

Illuminating the Invisible: Fluorescent Probes as Emerging Tools for Micro/Nanoplastic Identification

This review traces the development of fluorescent probes for detecting micro- and nanoplastics in environmental samples, from early hydrophobic stains to advanced molecular designs with improved selectivity. Researchers found that newer probe technologies offer significant advantages in sensitivity and throughput compared to conventional detection methods like FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The study highlights remaining challenges including standardizing protocols across different environmental matrices and improving detection of the smallest nanoplastic particles.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Revolutionizing microplastic detection in water through quantum dot fluorescence

Researchers developed a novel approach using carbon quantum dots to stain microplastics, enabling fluorescence-based detection in water at low cost and with simple synthesis, demonstrating high sensitivity and selectivity without the toxicity concerns of conventional fluorescent dyes.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent labelling as a tool for identifying and quantifying nanoplastics

Researchers used fluorescent labeling with four fluorescent molecules to enable detection of nanoplastics from six common polymer types (PP, LDPE, HDPE, PS, PET, PVC) via 3D fluorescence spectral analysis. The method provides a practical approach to identifying and quantifying nanoplastics in samples where conventional spectroscopic methods face sensitivity challenges.

2024 RSC Advances 7 citations
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

Plastic-derived carbon dots for sustainable environmental applications

Researchers developed a method to convert waste plastic into carbon dots — ultrasmall carbon nanomaterials with tunable photoluminescence and low toxicity — offering a sustainable approach to upcycling non-biodegradable plastic waste for environmental sensing and remediation applications.

2023
Article Tier 2

Polydopamine-encapsulated carbon dots to boost analytical performance for microplastics detection in fluorescence mode

Sulfur-doped carbon dots encapsulated with polydopamine (S-CDs@PDA) were used to detect polyethylene microplastics via fluorescence, showing 21.3% higher fluorescence signal and 8% better detection efficiency than uncoated carbon dots on modified membrane substrates.

2025 Microchimica Acta 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Size- and Concentration-Resolved Detection of PET Microplastics in Real Water via Excitation–Emission Matrix Fluorescence Quenching of Polyamide-Derived Carbon Quantum Dots

Scientists developed a new method to detect tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) in drinking water using special fluorescent dots that dim when they encounter plastic pollution. The technique works best at finding very small plastic pieces—smaller than the width of a human hair—which are hardest to detect but potentially most dangerous since they can get into our bodies more easily. This could help monitor plastic contamination in tap water and other water sources we use daily, giving us better information about our exposure to these harmful particles.

2026 Sensors
Article Tier 2

Co-staining microplastics with Nile Red and Rose Bengal for improved optical quantification

A co-staining protocol using both Nile Red and Rose Bengal fluorescent dyes was developed and validated for improved optical detection of microplastics, showing that dual staining outperforms single-dye approaches by reducing false positives and improving quantification accuracy in complex environmental samples.

2025 Scientific Reports 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent carbon dot embedded polystyrene nanoplastic: In vivo toxicity assessment and bioaccumulation study in Daphnia magna

Researchers synthesized fluorescent carbon dot-embedded polystyrene nanoplastics as trackable model particles and used them to assess in vivo toxicity in a biological test system. The fluorescent particles enabled real-time visualization of nanoplastic distribution and associated cellular toxicity.

2024
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent plastic nanoparticles to track their interaction and fate in physiological environments

This study developed fluorescently labeled plastic nanoparticles made from PET, polypropylene, and polystyrene that can be tracked in biological environments to study how nanoplastics are taken up and processed by living organisms. Having trackable model nanoplastics is an important tool for understanding how these particles move through tissues and food chains.

2020 Environmental Science Nano 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Fabrication and characterization of (fluorescent) model nanoplastics for polymer specific detection

Scientists developed fluorescently labeled model nanoplastics that mimic the properties of real plastic particles, enabling polymer-specific identification at very small scales. These standardized reference particles are a key research tool because nanoplastics are otherwise extremely difficult to detect and characterize in environmental samples.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Multimodal optical detection and toxicity testing of microplastics in the environment

Researchers combined multiple optical methods — fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, and biological toxicity assays — into a single integrated platform for detecting microplastics in environmental samples and assessing their biological harm. The multimodal approach enables faster and more comprehensive microplastic characterization than single-method techniques.

2019 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic Labelling with Metal Probes: Analytical Strategies for Their Sensitive Detection and Quantification by ICP Mass Spectrometry

Researchers developed metal probe labelling strategies to enable sensitive detection and quantification of nanoplastics by ICP mass spectrometry, overcoming the challenge that nanoplastics are too small and carbon-rich for conventional analytical techniques to distinguish.

2021 Molecules 30 citations