Papers

61,005 results
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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
Review Tier 2

Analysing micro- and nanoplastics with cutting-edge infrared spectroscopy techniques: a critical review

This review evaluates cutting-edge infrared spectroscopy techniques for detecting and analyzing micro- and nanoplastics in environmental and food samples. Better detection methods are crucial for understanding human exposure because they allow scientists to measure smaller particles more accurately, including nanoplastics that are small enough to cross biological barriers and accumulate in human tissues.

2024 Analytical Methods 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Infrared Microscopy: A Multidisciplinary Review of Techniques, Applications, and Ethical Dimensions

This review examines the applications of infrared microscopy across biomedical research, materials science, environmental monitoring, and art conservation. Researchers highlighted the technique's ability to provide non-invasive molecular analysis, including its role in identifying and characterizing microplastic pollutants in environmental samples. The study also addresses ethical considerations around data privacy and responsible technology use in these analytical applications.

2024 Jordan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 3 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

Applications of Fourier Transform-Infrared spectroscopy in microbial cell biology and environmental microbiology: advances, challenges, and future perspectives

This review covers how Fourier Transform-Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is used in microbiology to identify microorganisms, study biofilms, and monitor environmental interactions. While not directly about microplastics, FT-IR is one of the primary tools scientists use to identify and measure microplastic contamination in environmental samples. The review discusses challenges and future directions that could improve microplastic detection accuracy.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 171 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

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

Advanced analytical techniques for microplastics in the environment: a review

Researchers reviewed the most advanced laboratory tools for detecting and identifying microplastics in environmental samples — including infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and pyrolysis gas chromatography — summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of each technique to help researchers choose the right method for accurate microplastic analysis.

2023 Bulletin of the National Research Centre/Bulletin of the National Research Center 56 citations
Article Tier 2

High-resolution characterization technology for micro-/nano-plastics

This review provides an overview of advanced technologies for detecting and characterizing micro- and nanoplastics, including Raman spectroscopy, infrared imaging, and mass spectrometry techniques. Researchers evaluated the capabilities and limitations of each method, particularly for identifying the smallest plastic particles that are most challenging to measure. The study emphasizes that improving detection at the nanoscale is essential for accurately assessing the environmental and health risks of plastic pollution.

2024 Journal of Physics D Applied Physics 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Controlled Detection for Micro- and Nanoplastic Spectroscopy/Photometry Integration Using Infrared Radiation

Researchers proposed a controlled infrared spectroscopy/photometry integration system for detecting micro- and nanoplastics, using a diffraction grating controller to tune the geometry etendue of the display unit and yield a universal spectrometer/photometer capable of identifying plastic particles across size ranges.

2025 Optics
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

Short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging of microplastics: Effects of chemical and physical processes on spectral signatures and detection capabilities

Researchers evaluated short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging for rapid microplastic detection and polymer identification, testing the effects of various physical and chemical weathering agents on spectral signatures and finding the technique effective for identifying multiple polymer types in complex samples.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering
Article Tier 2

FTIR-Plastics: A Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy dataset for the six most prevalent industrial plastic polymers

Researchers created two publicly available datasets containing 3,000 infrared spectroscopy readings of the six most commonly used industrial plastic polymers. The datasets provide reference spectra at two different resolutions for plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC. This resource is designed to help other researchers more accurately and efficiently identify microplastic particles in environmental samples.

2024 Data in Brief 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Harmonizing infrared spectroscopic techniques for microplastic identification: a comparative evaluation of ATR and µFTIR transmission and reflection modes

Researchers systematically compared the performance of Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) and micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (muFTIR) in both transmission and reflection modes for identifying microplastics from twelve common real-world plastic products, providing guidance on optimizing spectroscopic technique selection.

2025
Article Tier 2

MIR spectral characterization of plastic to enable discrimination in an industrial recycling context: III. Anticipating impacts of ageing on identification

Researchers characterized how UV weathering alters the mid-infrared spectra of five common waste electrical and electronic equipment plastics and found that while oxidation introduces new spectral features, characteristic polymer signals remain distinguishable, meaning aged plastics can still be reliably identified by MIR hyperspectral sorting systems.

2020 Waste Management 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of Microplastics by Advanced Analytical Techniques

Researchers applied advanced analytical techniques — including Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and nanoindentation — to characterize the structure and properties of polyolefin microplastics collected from Japanese coastal waters, elucidating mechanisms of formation, photo-oxidative degradation, and fragmentation.

2022 BUNSEKI KAGAKU 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements

This review evaluates how infrared and near-infrared microscopy techniques are being used to measure human exposure to microplastics from drinking water, dust, food, and air. Researchers found that while these spectroscopic tools are powerful for identifying plastic types and sizes, significant challenges remain in standardizing methods across different sample types. The study highlights that consistent, reliable exposure measurements are essential for understanding whether microplastic levels in everyday environments pose meaningful health risks.

2023 Applied Spectroscopy 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemical characterization of microplastics from biosolids: a comparison of FTIR and O-PTIR microspectroscopy

Researchers compared conventional FTIR microspectroscopy with the emerging Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR) technique for chemical characterization and polymer-type identification of microplastics extracted from biosolids, finding that O-PTIR's submicron resolution and artifact-free spectra offer advantages over traditional methods.

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

MIR spectral characterization of plastic to enable discrimination in an industrial recycling context: II. Specific case of polyolefins

Researchers evaluated mid-infrared hyperspectral imaging as a tool for sorting black polyolefin plastics in industrial recycling, where conventional near-infrared scanners fail because carbon-black pigment masks polymer signatures, finding that FTIR spectral libraries can guide automated discrimination among twelve polyolefin reference materials.

2019 Waste Management 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of microplastics on filter substrates based on hyperspectral imaging: Laboratory assessments

Researchers evaluated near-infrared hyperspectral imaging as a method for characterizing microplastics on filter substrates, finding that 11 plastic polymers exhibited distinct spectral features at specific wavelength ranges enabling automatic identification, and also assessed the spectral compatibility of 11 different filter substrate materials.

2020 Environmental Pollution 89 citations
Article Tier 2

The applicability of reflectance micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for the detection of synthetic microplastics in marine sediments

Researchers developed and validated an optimized micro-FT-IR spectroscopy protocol for detecting microplastics in coastal marine sediments, providing a detailed operating procedure. The standardized method improves detection reliability and enables comparison of results across laboratories studying sediment microplastic contamination.

2012 The Science of The Total Environment 375 citations
Article Tier 2

Infrared spectroscopic monitoring of solid-state processes

This review examines infrared spectroscopy as a versatile analytical tool for monitoring solid-state physical and chemical processes in materials science, covering fundamental principles, applications in characterizing transformations, and current challenges in combining IR with complementary techniques.

2022 Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of Hydroxyl and Polysiloxane Compounds via Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy with Targeted Noise Analysis

This study developed an improved method for identifying specific chemical compounds in polymer materials using infrared spectroscopy with a noise-reduction technique. While focused on polymer analysis rather than microplastics directly, the enhanced detection method could be applied to better identify and characterize microplastic particles in environmental samples. More accurate identification tools are essential for understanding what types of plastics people are exposed to.

2025 Polymers 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of a multilevel micro/nano-plastics Infrared Spectroscopy using optical chopper modulation and induced anti-stokes shift techniques

Researchers designed a new infrared spectroscopy system combining optical modulation and laser techniques to detect nanoplastics and microplastics smaller than 10 micrometers — well below the 20-micrometer detection limit of most current instruments — potentially enabling more sensitive identification of the tiniest plastic particles in environmental samples.

2025 Results in Optics 2 citations