Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Optical parameters extraction of soil and its microplastics contamination using terahertz spectroscopy

Researchers used terahertz spectroscopy to detect and quantify low-density polyethylene microplastics mixed into soil at different concentrations, finding that the technique could distinguish contaminated from clean soil based on changes in refractive index and signal attenuation. Terahertz spectroscopy is non-destructive and rapid, making it a potentially valuable tool for in-field soil microplastic screening without the need for laboratory extraction.

2024 Heliyon 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards a fast and generalized microplastic quantification method in soil using terahertz spectroscopy

Researchers compared terahertz and near-infrared spectroscopy for quantifying microplastics in soil, finding that terahertz spectroscopy offered a faster and more accurate approach than NIR for distinguishing household microplastics from standard reference polymers in soil matrices.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on Rapid Quantitative Detection of Soil MPs Based on Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Researchers developed a rapid method for detecting and quantifying microplastics in soil using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy combined with machine learning algorithms. The classification models achieved high accuracy in identifying different types of microplastics including polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene. The study suggests that terahertz spectroscopy could provide a faster and more efficient alternative to current methods for monitoring microplastic contamination in agricultural soils.

2025 Analytical Chemistry 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification and characterization of various plastics using THz-spectroscopy

Researchers used terahertz spectroscopy, which has reached spatial resolutions of a few micrometres and interacts with molecular vibrations without ionizing samples or damaging DNA, to identify and characterize various plastic types, demonstrating the technique's potential for building materials databases and biological imaging applications.

2022 arXiv (Cornell University)
Article Tier 2

Detection of Microplastic in Salts Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Researchers demonstrated that terahertz spectroscopy can detect microplastics embedded in table salt at different concentrations. This technology could offer a new non-destructive method for screening food products for microplastic contamination.

2021 Sensors 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Review of Bioplastics Characterisation by Terahertz Techniques in the View of Ensuring a Circular Economy

Not directly relevant to microplastics — this review covers the use of terahertz spectroscopy and imaging for characterising bioplastic materials in the context of quality control and circular economy manufacturing.

2023 Photonics 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic detection in soil by THz Time-Domain hyperspectral imaging combined with unsupervised learning analysis

Researchers applied terahertz time-domain hyperspectral imaging combined with multiple unsupervised machine-learning algorithms to detect and spatially map low-density polyethylene microplastics in soil, demonstrating that all five methods consistently separated plastic from soil without requiring labeled training data, establishing a reference-free detection approach.

2026 Environmental Technology & Innovation
Article Tier 2

Development of a Compact and Portable Terahertz Imaging System for Industrial Applications

Researchers developed a compact, portable terahertz imaging device suitable for use outside the laboratory, demonstrating its ability to detect microplastics in soil among a range of other applications. While microplastic detection is one of several uses tested, the availability of low-cost, field-deployable detection technology could support faster and broader environmental monitoring of microplastic contamination.

2024 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of the Compounds Used in Waste Bottle Caps Using Terahertz Radiation for Sustainable Resource Recycling to Benefit International Cooperation

Not relevant to microplastics — this study proposes using terahertz wave spectroscopy to distinguish between polypropylene and polyethylene plastic bottle caps, addressing the limitations of near-infrared sorting technology in recycling facilities and enabling higher-purity material recovery.

2024 Sustainability 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Terahertz Spectroscopy Characterization and Prediction of the Aging Degree of Polyethylene Pipes Based on PLS

Researchers applied terahertz time-domain spectroscopy combined with partial least squares (PLS) modeling to characterize and predict the aging degree of polyethylene pipes, demonstrating that THz spectral features can serve as non-destructive indicators of polymer degradation during long-term service.

2023 Materials 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Application of Terahertz Metamaterials Based on Metallic Strip Structures in Detection of Reverse Micelles

Researchers developed terahertz metamaterial sensors based on microfluidic technology for detecting and characterizing microplastics in liquid samples. The approach offers high sensitivity for distinguishing polymer types based on their terahertz absorption signatures.

2024 Biosensors 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A microwave-based technique as a feasible method to detect plastic pollutants in experimental samples

Researchers developed a non-destructive microwave-based cavity perturbation technique at 2-4 GHz to identify plastic pollutants including polypropylene, LDPE, HDPE, and cross-linked polyethylene, demonstrating that dielectric constant and loss tangent measurements can distinguish polymer types without destroying samples.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Advanced Particle Size Analysis in High-Solid-Content Polymer Dispersions Using Photon Density Wave Spectroscopy

Not relevant to microplastics research; this paper develops a new spectroscopic method for measuring the size of polymer nanoparticles in concentrated industrial dispersions, focused on manufacturing quality control rather than environmental microplastic pollution.

2023 Polymers 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of microplastics in a large water volume by integrated holography and Raman spectroscopy

A new technique combining holography and Raman spectroscopy was demonstrated to identify plastic pellets suspended in a large volume of water without physical contact. This non-destructive approach could enable real-time, in-water microplastic detection for environmental monitoring.

2020 Applied Optics 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of microplastics based on spatial heterodyne Raman spectroscopy

Researchers developed a spatial heterodyne Raman spectroscopy method for detecting microplastics, offering advantages over existing techniques by reducing detection time, lowering false detection rates, and using more affordable equipment.

2022 Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Low-Cost Thermal-Infrared ‘THz-Torch’ Spectroscopy

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research; it describes a low-cost thermal-infrared spectroscopy technique ('THz-Torch') for non-destructive material characterization, demonstrated on glass, semiconductor, ceramic, and plastic materials.

2024 IEEE Access 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of Polystyrene Microplastic Particles in Water Using Surface-Functionalized Terahertz Microfluidic Metamaterials

Researchers developed a surface-functionalized terahertz metamaterial microfluidic sensor for detecting polystyrene microplastic particles in water, demonstrating that microplastics captured at functionalized gap structures shift the resonant frequency of the metamaterial, enabling label-free detection with findings validated by finite-difference time-domain simulations.

2022 Applied Sciences 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploratory analysis of hyperspectral FTIR data obtained from environmental microplastics samples

Hyperspectral infrared imaging is an effective method for finding and characterizing microplastics in environmental samples, and this paper explores analytical approaches for extracting useful information from the large datasets it generates. Better analytical tools make it faster and more accurate to identify and classify microplastics in real-world samples.

2020 Analytical Methods 56 citations
Article Tier 2

A New Optical Method for Quantitative Detection of Microplastics in Water Based on Real-Time Fluorescence Analysis

Researchers developed a new fluorescence-based particle counter for real-time quantitative detection of microplastics in water, validating the method against FTIR analysis on wastewater treatment plant samples containing polyethylene and PVC particles.

2022 Water 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Contributions of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in microplastic pollution research: A review

This review covers advances in Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques — including chemical imaging — for identifying polymer types in microplastic samples and tracing their fate in different environmental matrices.

2020 Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 480 citations