Above: Nile red stained, 11-micrometer polystyrene beads dried on slide surface imaged in dark field.
70-nm polystyrene beads dried on slide
Beads aggregate at edge
70-nm polystyrene beads in water under a coverslip
Beads show low aggregation
Sub-resolution nanoplastic detection
70-nm Isolated Polystyrene Bead
Single polystyrene nanoparticle (red box in above image)
Orange filter OG530; FLIR Blackfly 2.3 MP color camera
450 nm excitation
Magnification: 20X
NA: 0.42
Pixel size: 300 nm
Optical Resolution: 700 nm
We recently collaborated with local environmental scientists on a study of fluorescent dyes for MNP detection. DCVJ and Nile red dyes were compared. (1)
(1) Madison Wallner, Justin Diaz, Amelia B. Labbe, James J. Jacob, Quentin Williams, Adina Paytan and Clive R. Bagshaw. The comparative strengths and limitations of Nile Red and 9-(dicyanovinyl)-julolidine (DCVJ) fluorescent dyes for detecting microplastics and and nano-plastics, 2026. (Submitted for publication)