Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Comparative Study of Chemometric Approaches and Machine Learning for Miniaturized Near-infrared (micronir) Spectroscopy in Plasticwaste Sorting

This study tested a miniaturized near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy device combined with chemometric and machine learning methods to sort different types of plastic waste. The approach accurately identified polymer types, supporting more efficient plastic recycling operations that could reduce microplastic generation.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid and Nondestructive On-Site Classification Method for Consumer-Grade Plastics Based on Portable NIR Spectrometer and Machine Learning

Researchers used a portable near-infrared spectrometer combined with machine learning to rapidly identify and classify seven types of consumer plastic waste on-site without damaging the samples. Faster and cheaper plastic identification tools are important for improving plastic recycling efficiency and ultimately reducing the amount of plastic that ends up as microplastic pollution.

2020 Journal of Spectroscopy 43 citations
Article Tier 2

A comprehensive and fast microplastics identification based on near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI-NIR) and chemometrics

Researchers developed a near-infrared hyperspectral imaging method combined with chemometric analysis for rapid, high-throughput identification of microplastic types in mixed samples, achieving high classification accuracy and offering a faster alternative to FTIR and Raman methods for routine monitoring.

2021 Environmental Pollution 118 citations
Article Tier 2

An investigation on the applications of advanced Infrared Spectroscopy, Spectral Imaging and Machine Learning for Polymer Characterization, including microplastics

This study integrated advanced infrared spectroscopy, spectral imaging, chemometrics, and machine learning to identify and characterize microplastics and polymer degradation products. The combination of techniques improved both the accuracy and throughput of MP analysis compared to conventional methods.

2025 Research Repository UCD (University College Dublin)
Article Tier 2

Rapid detection of colored and colorless macro- and micro-plastics in complex environment via near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning.

Researchers developed a near-infrared spectroscopy method combined with machine learning classifiers -- including PLS-DA, random forest, and XGBoost -- to rapidly identify both colored and colorless plastic fragments across different polymer types, thicknesses, and environmental backgrounds. The approach improved detection of colorless plastics that are typically underestimated in environmental surveys, with random forest achieving the highest classification accuracy.

2025 Journal of environmental sciences (China)
Article Tier 2

A New Chemometric Approach for Automatic Identification of Microplastics from Environmental Compartments Based on FT-IR Spectroscopy

Researchers developed a new chemometric approach for automatic identification of microplastics from environmental samples, designed to handle the challenges of biofilm contamination and surface aging that typically impede standard spectroscopic characterisation methods.

2017 Analytical Chemistry 117 citations
Article Tier 2

PCA combined with SVM assisted fluorescence spectroscopy for classification of microplastics

Researchers combined principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers with fluorescence spectroscopy to classify six types of microplastics, achieving 100% classification accuracy on a test set of 2,400 spectral samples while substantially reducing computation time compared to the baseline SVM model. The study demonstrates that PCA dimensionality reduction can maintain classification accuracy while improving the speed of machine learning-based microplastic identification.

2024
Article Tier 2

Identification of Polymers with a Small Data Set of Mid-infrared Spectra: A Comparison between Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models

Researchers compared multiple machine learning and deep learning models for identifying polymer types from mid-infrared spectral data using a small reference dataset, finding that certain deep learning architectures outperformed traditional methods even with limited training examples, supporting automated microplastic identification.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Spectral Classification of Large-Scale Blended (Micro)Plastics Using FT-IR Raw Spectra and Image-Based Machine Learning

Researchers developed and compared four machine learning classifiers for identifying microplastic types from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy data using large-scale blended plastic datasets. The study found that a 1D convolutional neural network achieved the best overall accuracy at over 97%, outperforming decision tree and random forest models, offering a scalable alternative to traditional library-search methods for microplastic identification.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification of ternary microplastic mixtures through an ultra-compact near-infrared spectrometer coupled with chemometric tools

Researchers developed a miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer paired with chemometric analysis to quantify mixtures of the three most common environmental microplastics — polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene — demonstrating its promise as a portable, field-deployable detection tool.

2022 Environmental Research 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Raman Spectral Classification with Machine Learning

This review summarized recent advances in applying machine learning to Raman spectral classification, addressing the challenges of weak signals, complex spectra, and high-dimensional data that limit traditional chemometric methods. The advances have significant implications for automated, high-throughput microplastic polymer identification.

2026 Sensors 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comparative Study of Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models for Microplastic Classification using FTIR Spectra

Researchers compared machine learning and deep learning models for classifying microplastics using FTIR spectra, evaluating multiple algorithmic approaches against standardised spectral datasets. The study assessed classification accuracy and computational efficiency, identifying which model architectures best discriminate between polymer types in environmental microplastic samples.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

A comparison of machine learning techniques for the detection of microplastics

This German-language study compared machine learning algorithms for classifying microplastics based on their infrared spectra, finding that several methods could reliably distinguish polymer types. Automating microplastic identification through machine learning could greatly increase the speed and throughput of environmental monitoring.

2020 reposiTUm (TU Wien)
Article Tier 2

Machine Learning Method for Microplastic Identification Using a Combination of Machine Learning and Raman Spectroscopy

Researchers developed a machine learning method for identifying microplastics using a combination of multiple spectroscopic techniques, improving classification accuracy beyond single-method approaches and enabling automated polymer identification.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Traceability of Microplastic Fragments from Waste Plastic Express Packages Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Chemometrics

Researchers used near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometric machine learning to identify which type of plastic packaging material a microplastic fragment came from — essentially tracing the source of express delivery packaging debris. Being able to trace microplastic fragments back to their original packaging type could help identify which industries and products contribute most to microplastic pollution and inform more targeted regulation.

2024 Molecules 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Machine learning based workflow for (micro)plastic spectral reconstruction and classification

A machine learning pipeline combining two spectral reconstruction models with four classification algorithms can identify microplastic polymer types from spectral data with up to 98% accuracy on processed spectra. Applied to real environmental samples, the best model achieved 71% top-one accuracy and over 90% top-three accuracy. Automated, high-accuracy microplastic identification tools are critical for scaling up environmental monitoring and making large-scale surveys practical.

2024 Chemosphere 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic particles in the Arctic marine environment: database of IR spectra and its analysis by machine learning methods

Researchers compiled a database of infrared spectra from microplastic particles collected in the Arctic marine environment and applied machine learning methods to automate polymer identification, addressing the labor-intensive nature of manual spectral analysis. They developed and evaluated ML classification models using real environmental polymer spectra to improve the speed and scalability of microplastic chemical characterization in polar research.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in the application of machine learning methods to improve identification of the microplastics in environment

This review examined a decade of progress in applying machine learning algorithms to microplastic identification, finding that support vector machines and artificial neural networks significantly improve detection accuracy and efficiency when combined with spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and Raman.

2022 Chemosphere 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Weathering-independent differentiation of microplastic polymers by reflectance IR spectrometry and pattern recognition

Researchers developed a weathering-independent method for identifying microplastic polymer types using reflectance infrared spectrometry combined with pattern recognition techniques including principal components analysis and classification trees, demonstrating reliable polymer differentiation even when field samples are weathered or biofouled.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Classifying polymers with mid-IR spectra and machine learning: From monitoring to detection

Researchers applied machine learning to mid-infrared spectra to automatically classify different types of plastic polymers found in the environment. Accurate polymer identification is essential for microplastic research, and this automated approach could improve monitoring efficiency and data consistency across studies.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic particles in the Arctic marine environment: database of IR spectra and its analysis by machine learning methods

Researchers built a database of IR spectra from microplastic particles collected across Arctic marine environments and applied machine learning methods to enable faster and less labor-intensive chemical composition analysis, identifying polymer types from spectral signatures at broad regional scales.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

The potential of NIR spectroscopy in the separation of plastics for pyrolysis

This study examined the potential of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to identify and sort different plastic types for chemical recycling, finding it can effectively distinguish major polymer types. Better plastic sorting technology could improve recycling rates and reduce the amount of plastic that ends up as environmental microplastic pollution.

2021 Electronic Imaging 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Deep learning for chemometric analysis of plastic spectral data from infrared and Raman databases

A novel deep learning architecture called PolymerSpectraDecisionNet was trained to identify common recyclable plastics from infrared and Raman spectral databases. The model outperformed conventional chemometric methods for polymer classification and was designed to handle real-world spectral variability relevant to the plastics recycling industry.

2022 Resources Conservation and Recycling 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Training and evaluating machine learning algorithms for ocean microplastics classification through vibrational spectroscopy

Researchers evaluated multiple machine learning algorithms for automatically classifying ocean microplastics using infrared spectroscopy data across 13 polymer types. The study found that Support Vector Machine classifiers provided the best balance of simplicity and accuracy, offering a practical tool for faster and more reliable identification of microplastic contaminants.

2021 Chemosphere 69 citations