Effects of defined organic layers on the fluorescence lifetime of plastic materials

TL;DR

This study shows that fluorescence lifetime imaging can detect plastics even when they're coated with organic materials, which is important for environmental monitoring.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that FD-FLIM can reliably identify plastics despite biological contamination, offering a new analytical tool.

Findings

FD-FLIM successfully identified ABS and PET plastics with organic contamination.

Biological coatings did not hinder fluorescence lifetime detection of plastics.

The technique offers a rapid alternative for microplastic analysis in environmental samples.

Abstract

Plastics have become an integral part of modern life, and linked to that fact, the demand for and global production of plastics are still increasing. However, the environmental pollution caused by plastics has reached unprecedented levels. The accumulation of small plastic fragments—microplastics and nanoplastics—potentially threatens organisms, ecosystems, and human health. Researchers commonly employ non-destructive analytical methods to assess the presence and characteristics of microplastic particles in environmental samples. However, these techniques require extensive sample preparation, which represents a significant limitation and hinders a direct on-site analysis. In this context, previous investigations showed the potential of fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) for fast and reliable identification of microplastics in an environmental matrix. However, since microplastics receive an environmental coating after entering nature, a challenge arises from organic contamination on the surface of microplastic particles. How this influences the fluorescence signal and the possibility of microplastic detection are unknown. To address this research gap, we exposed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic samples to peptides, proteins, bacteria, and a filamentous fungus to induce organic contamination and mimic environmental conditions. We analyzed the fluorescence spectra and lifetimes of the samples using fluorescence spectroscopy and frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FD-FLIM), respectively. Our results demonstrate that reliably identifying and differentiating ABS and PET was possible via FD-FLIM, even in the presence of these biological contaminations. These findings highlight the potential of this technique as a valuable tool for environmental monitoring and plastic characterization, offering a rapid and efficient alternative to currently used analytical methods.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00216-025-05888-y.

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