The Need

Microplastics and, increasingly, nanoplastics, are emerging contaminants of concern in water systems, consumer products, and environmental samples. However, most existing analytical workflows are optimized for larger particles and often fail to reliably isolate, quantify, and identify plastics in the submicron size range. As a result, researchers, regulators, water utilities, and industry lack access to robust data on the smallest particles, which are believed to represent a substantial fraction of total plastic contamination and may pose distinct environmental and health risks.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed an integrated sample preparation and analytical workflow that enables the recovery, quantification, characterization, and polymer classification of microplastic and nanoplastic particles from aqueous samples with sizes greater than 500 nm. The process combines biological and organic constituent removal, particle enrichment, selective separation, advanced microscopy, spectroscopy, and automated image analysis into a single platform. The technology supports analysis of particles well below the size thresholds accessible to many conventional approaches, providing both particle-level characterization and polymer-class identification.

Commercial Applications

• Environmental testing and analytical laboratory services
• Research instrumentation
• Environmental consulting and regulatory compliance

Benefits/Advantages

• Detects and characterizes particles in the submicron range
• Demonstrated recovery performance of approximately 80%
• Provides both particle morphology and polymer classification