近日，德国斯图加特大学M. Hentschel团队研究了用于纳米塑料检测、定径和计数的光学筛。相关论文于2025年9月8日发表在《自然—光子学》杂志上。

微塑料和纳米塑料颗粒是普遍存在的环境污染物，威胁着人类健康、水生和土壤生态系统。这些微小的合成碎片可以存在几个世纪，渗透到食物链中，通过在各种组织中的生物积累、毒性和与相关化学品的接触，构成潜在的健康风险。虽然宏观塑料和微塑料在环境和生物研究中得到了广泛的研究，但关于直径小于1μm是有限的。这些颗粒可以跨越生物边界，包括血脑屏障，比微塑料带来更大的健康风险。除了仅仅检测这些颗粒外，了解它们的大小分布、数量和大小限制对于评估其对全球生态系统和人类健康的影响至关重要。

研究组建立了一种使用米氏空隙共振进行纳米塑料检测和尺寸测量的光学筛。光学筛由不同直径的光学谐振腔阵列组成，同时作为过滤和分类元件，以及全光学报告器，只需要光学显微镜和带有RGB传感器的标准相机结合比色分析。该系统在合成的真实样品中进行了评估，塑料颗粒质量浓度为150 μg ml^-1。因此，该方法通过观察不同的颜色变化来提供关于数量、大小和尺寸分布的统计信息，克服了对扫描电子显微镜等先进技术的需求。所提出的方法提供了一种简单、易于获取和移动的解决方案，使其成为环境和生物研究的有效和易于实施的工具。

附：英文原文

Title: Optical sieve for nanoplastic detection, sizing and counting

Author: Ludescher, D., Wesemann, L., Schwab, J., Karst, J., Sulejman, S. B., Ubl, M., Clarke, B. O., Roberts, A., Giessen, H., Hentschel, M.

Issue&Volume: 2025-09-08

Abstract: Micro- and nanoplastic particles are ubiquitous environmental pollutants, threatening human health, aquatic and soil ecosystems. These minute synthetic fragments, persisting for centuries, infiltrate the food chain, posing potential health risks through bioaccumulation in various tissues, toxicity and exposure to associated chemicals. Although macro- and microplastics are intensively examined in environmental and biological research, information on nanoplastics with diameters below 1μm is limited. Such particles can cross biological borders, including the blood–brain barrier, posing a greater health risk than microplastics. Apart from the mere detection of such particles, gaining an understanding of size distribution, numbers and size limits will be crucial in assessing their impact on global ecosystems and human health. Here we establish an optical sieve that uses Mie void resonances for nanoplastic detection and sizing. The optical sieve consists of arrays of optically resonant voids with different diameters that simultaneously serve as filtering and sorting elements, as well as all-optical reporters, requiring only an optical microscope and a standard camera with an RGB sensor in combination with colorimetric analysis. The system is evaluated using a synthesized real-world sample with a plastic particle mass concentration of 150μgml1. Our approach consequently delivers statistical information on numbers, size and size distribution via the observation of distinct colour changes, overcoming the need for advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopy. The proposed method offers a straightforward, highly accessible and mobile solution, making it an efficient and easily implemented tool for environmental and biological research.

DOI: 10.1038/s41566-025-01733-x

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-025-01733-x