Monitoring microplastics in live reef-building corals with microscopic laser particles
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866912684275924992 |
|---|---|
| author | Titze, Vera M. Reichert, Jessica Schubert, Marcel Gather, Malte C. |
| author_facet | Titze, Vera M. Reichert, Jessica Schubert, Marcel Gather, Malte C. |
| contents | Micro- and nanoplastics pose a growing threat to marine organisms, such as reef-building corals. Yet, our understanding of microplastic uptake, interaction with coral tissue, and incorporation into coral skeletons remains limited, mainly due to the invasiveness of existing methods for detecting microplastics. Here, we exploit optical resonances in polymer spheres to transform microplastic particles into microscopic lasers. The bright, distinctive, and stable spectral signatures emitted by the microscopic laser particles function as optical barcodes, allowing extended tracking of microplastics transport through optically opaque coral tissue. Simultaneously, the lasers provide real-time sensing of dynamic changes at the microplastic surface with nanoscale resolution. Using confocal hyperspectral imaging, we establish the technical and analytical framework to capture coral anatomy and combine tracking and surface sensing into an integrated, non-invasive approach. With this, we explore the transport and internalization of individual microplastics in live corals, opening new avenues for understanding their ecological impact. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_20014 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Monitoring microplastics in live reef-building corals with microscopic laser particles Titze, Vera M. Reichert, Jessica Schubert, Marcel Gather, Malte C. Biological Physics Optics Micro- and nanoplastics pose a growing threat to marine organisms, such as reef-building corals. Yet, our understanding of microplastic uptake, interaction with coral tissue, and incorporation into coral skeletons remains limited, mainly due to the invasiveness of existing methods for detecting microplastics. Here, we exploit optical resonances in polymer spheres to transform microplastic particles into microscopic lasers. The bright, distinctive, and stable spectral signatures emitted by the microscopic laser particles function as optical barcodes, allowing extended tracking of microplastics transport through optically opaque coral tissue. Simultaneously, the lasers provide real-time sensing of dynamic changes at the microplastic surface with nanoscale resolution. Using confocal hyperspectral imaging, we establish the technical and analytical framework to capture coral anatomy and combine tracking and surface sensing into an integrated, non-invasive approach. With this, we explore the transport and internalization of individual microplastics in live corals, opening new avenues for understanding their ecological impact. |
| title | Monitoring microplastics in live reef-building corals with microscopic laser particles |
| topic | Biological Physics Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.20014 |