SBIR Phase I: Developing the First Flow-Through Sensor for Real Time Microplastics Measurements

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是，通过第一个实时传感器，提高了快速、轻松、相对廉价地获得水体中微塑料浓度的知识的能力。微塑料是一个世界性的污染问题，对生态系统服务、人类健康和渔业经济都有毁灭性的影响。人们对微塑料的兴趣正在激增，许多学者、非营利组织和政府机构都开始了微塑料的研究和监测计划。然而，研究和监测微塑料的限制因素是，目前所有收集和分析微塑料的方法都非常耗时。由于分析样品的瓶颈，目前关于微塑性丰度的知识空白很多。这项技术创造了第一个用于分析微塑性浓度的实时流动传感器，将开始弥合这些差距。这种传感器为客户带来的好处包括降低了劳动力成本，以及可重复和准确的数据。这些好处可能会为补救战略和政策决定提供参考，从而可能导致全球微塑料随后的减少。减少环境中的微塑料可以为美国人民带来生态和人类健康方面的好处。该项目旨在建造第一个流通式微塑料实时传感器。该技术可以通过测量超声频率来缩短微塑性丰度的采样时间。利用超宽带超声波能量，传感器将记录悬浮塑料颗粒的不同共振和散射响应，这些响应基于尺寸、形状和材料特性，这些特性将随塑料成分和风化状态的不同而变化。所有这些因素都会让科学家了解样本的浓度和组成。这项技术与目前的微塑料浓度测量方法的不同之处在于它的新型超声波技术组合，这些技术已经在医学和无损检测领域得到验证，用于液体中微粒的分类。该项目将首次实现快速、轻松地进行微塑料测量，不仅允许在美国的海洋、湖泊和溪流中进行微塑料测量，而且还可以在废水和饮用水处理厂、海水淡化厂、农业灌溉线路和工厂径流中进行测量。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the increased ability to gain knowledge about microplastic concentrations in bodies of water rapidly, easily, and relatively cheaply through the first real-time sensor. Microplastics are a worldwide pollution problem that have devastating impacts on ecosystem services, human health, and fishery economics. Interest in microplastics is surging, with many academics, nonprofits, and government agencies all beginning microplastic research and monitoring programs. However, the limiting factor in studying and monitoring microplastics is that all current methods for collecting and analyzing them are extremely time-consuming. There are many current knowledge gaps about microplastic abundance due to bottlenecks in analyzing samples. This technology, in creating the first real-time flow-through sensor to analyze microplastic concentration, would begin to close those gaps. The benefits to the customer of this sensor include reduced labor costs, and reproducible and accurate data. These benefits may inform remediation strategies and policy decisions that could lead to a subsequent reduction of microplastics globally. Reducing microplastics in the environment can have ecological and human health benefits for the American people. This project aims to build the first flow-through, real-time sensor for microplastics. The technology could reduce the sampling time of microplastic abundances by measuring ultrasonic frequencies. Using very large bandwidth ultrasound energy, the sensor will record different resonant and scattering responses of the suspended plastic particles based on size, shape, and material properties which will vary by plastic composition and weathering state. All of these factors will inform scientists about the concentration and composition of the sample. This technology is differentiated from current measurement methods of microplastic concentration by its novel combination of ultrasound technologies that have already been proven in both the medical and non-destructive inspection communities for in-liquid microparticle classification. This project will allow microplastics measurements to be taken quickly and easily for the first time, allowing for a rapid expansion of microplastics measurements, not only in America’s oceans, lakes, and streams, but also in wastewater and drinking water treatment plants, desalination plants, agriculture irrigation lines, and factory runoff streams.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.