The Alfred Wegener Institute in Helgoland, Germany (AWI) hosted a two-week intensive microplastic analysis course in June 2024.
The training was led by Dr Sebastian Primpke and his PhD student Fangzhu Wu so that Educons University researchers could better understand and combat the ubiquitous problem of plastic pollution. During the training, researchers had the opportunity to explore innovative techniques, dive into the environmental impact, and collaborate and connect strongly.
The event was attended by researchers from Educons University, including Asst. Prof. dr Vesna Vasić, Asst. Prof. dr Zorana Srećkov, and Asst. Galina Čurčić.
Learning from colleagues who are representatives of the consortium partners on the GREENLand project, researchers from Educons University of Novi Sad, Serbia spent the first part of this well-organized event on thorough instrumental analysis courses that included ATR, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy methods.
The training included the preparation of collected field samples from past GREENLand training at the Institute, for further analysis.
Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) is a method of qualitative analysis that enables the direct examination of solid or liquid samples without further preparation. It utilizes total internal reflection to generate an evanescent wave that penetrates the sample, providing valuable molecular information.
Since the application of this method is limited to particles of somewhat larger dimensions it is used in microplastic analyses limited to particles whose diameter is in the range of 2-5 mm. Once the complete water sample is sieved through a 2mm sieve, its microplastic content gets separated into bigger microplastic fraction and smaller which will be analysed via FTIR or Raman spectroscopy.
The bigger particles get collected from the sieve and this subsample is then thoroughly inspected under binoculars so that each microplastic particle can be identified, measured, photographed and taken out to dry. Dried particles are simply pressed onto the crystal surface of the ATR which allows for their spectrum data to be collected and interpreted.
Through photographs and videos, we provide a visual representation of the methodology used to detect microplastics and the laboratory work involved in the procedure during the stay at the Institute.
In the following article, you can get additional information about the applied Raman spectroscopy technique in the GREENLand project.
