Fluorogenic hyaluronan nanogels for detection of micro- and nanoplastics in water. Issue 2 (23rd December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cingolani, Matteo; Rampazzo, Enrico; Zaccheroni, Nelsi; Genovese, Damiano; Prodi, Luca
• Is Part Of: Environmental science. Volume 9:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 582
• Page End: 588
• Publication Date: 2021-12-23
• Subjects: Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/d1en00684c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2051-8153

Abstract

Abstract : Nano- and microplastics are polluting the environment and their detection remains elusive. A fluorogenic hyaluronan shows high affinity toward their surfaces, turning brightly emissive, and its lifetime allows discrimination of plastics in nature. Abstract : Environmental pollution from plastics is exponentially increasing due to human activities. While larger microplastics can be detected with various methods, retrieving micron-sized fragments and nanoplastics remains challenging. Yet, these smaller-sized plastics have been raising considerable toxicological concern. Here, we show that a poorly emissive hyaluronan functionalized with rhodamine B (HA–RB) adheres with high affinity to various microplastic surfaces, becoming brightly emissive. Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) can be successfully detected with size as small as the diffraction limit of confocal microscopy ( ca. 250 nm). FLIM images show that the fluorescence lifetime of the dye moieties changes according to the plastics, making possible a discrimination of the nature of MNPs based on lifetime. HA–RB, compared to previous reports, eliminates false-positive results caused by formation of dye aggregates, resulting in a higher S/N ratio which allows the unequivocal detection of nano-sized fragments.