(637d) A Microfluidic Platform for Enhanced Environmental Micro/Nanoplastic Analysis

Degradation of polymeric materials into micro- and nano-scale particulates presents a daunting challenge for environmental monitoring and public health. The development of rapid, field-deployable detection methodologies would enable on-site analysis of pollutants, significantly impacting environmental monitoring and pollution mitigation strategies. However, traditional analytical techniques are constrained by their reliance on laboratory-based instrumentation, limiting portability and adaptability for field-based analysis. This presentation describes a microfluidic approach to characterize nanoplastic particles by size and concentration in a format with high portability potential. Our system employs a dual-stream microfluidic architecture where a tracer dye solution and a polymeric nanoparticle suspension are co-injected in parallel laminar flows. The interaction between these streams initiates a diffusion-driven complexation at their interface, yielding a unique fluorescence signature. Experimental validation using polystyrene nanoparticles in the challenging 20 – 100 nm size range demonstrates the system's capability to quantify particle size and concentration with high sensitivity. Finally, we introduce a physico-chemical model that enables the fluorescence signature to be predicted, making it possible to retrieve nanoparticle size, concentration, and composition in single- and multi-component mixtures. By allowing rapid micro/nano plastics detection, our work lays the foundation for a scalable solution to perform field-based environmental monitoring.