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Quantification of Nanoplastics and Inorganic Nanoparticles via Laser-Induced Breakdown Detection (LIBD)
Minh N Nguyen1, Pia Lipp2, Ines Zucker3
1Institute for Advanced Membrane Technology (IAMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
Small Methods
|April 8, 2025
Summary
Laser-induced breakdown detection (LIBD) offers highly sensitive nanoparticle quantification in water, even at low concentrations. This method surpasses other techniques for detecting nanoplastics and inorganic nanoparticles.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Quantifying diverse nanoparticles, especially nanoplastics (10^6-10^9 particles/mL), in aquatic environments is crucial for assessing water treatment efficacy.
- Existing methods like turbidity monitoring, UV-vis spectroscopy, and nanoparticle tracking analysis have limitations in sensitivity for low-concentration nanoparticle detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the sensitivity, specifically the limit of detection (LOD), of laser-induced breakdown detection (LIBD) for counting various nanoparticles, including nanoplastics.
- To compare the LOD of LIBD with conventional methods for nanoparticle quantification in water.
Main Methods:
- Laser-induced breakdown detection (LIBD) was employed to quantify polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles (20-400 nm) and nanoplastics (PS, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate).
- The LODs achieved by LIBD were compared against turbidity monitoring, UV-vis spectroscopy, and nanoparticle tracking analysis.
Main Results:
- LIBD demonstrated significantly lower LODs for PS nanoparticles (e.g., 2 × 10^6 particles/mL for 100 nm) compared to other methods (6 × 10^8 to 2 × 10^7 particles/mL).
- For nanoplastics, LIBD achieved even lower detection limits (10^4 - 10^5 particles/mL), one to two orders of magnitude better than PS standards.
- LIBD successfully quantified inorganic nanoparticles (zeolite, titania, hematite) and showed increased sensitivity with higher particle density.
Conclusions:
- LIBD is a robust and highly sensitive technique for counting diverse nanoparticles, including nanoplastics, at environmentally relevant low concentrations.
- The low LODs of LIBD make it suitable for monitoring nanoparticle levels in treated water, such as membrane system permeates.
- LIBD holds potential for applications in membrane integrity monitoring and fundamental research into membrane processes.
Keywords:
engineered nanoparticlesmicroplasticsonline water quality monitoringparticle countingsoft versus hard nanoparticlesMore Related Videos
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