Laser ablation-based techniques for microplastic analysis : recent advances and applications

Modlitbová, Pavlína (author), Brunnbauer, Lukas (author), Kalčíková, Gabriela (author), Fazlić, Aida (author), Limbeck, Andreas (author), Pořízka, Pavel (author), Kaiser, Jozef (author)

Microplastics have emerged as significant environmental contaminants due to the increasing production of polymer-based products and their limited disposal options. The persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and ability of microplastics to adsorb and transport toxic contaminants pose a risk to ecosystems and human health. Consequently, precise detection, characterization, and visualization of microplastics in various matrices are of paramount importance. However, the inherent challenges of analysing particles across broad size ranges with diverse physicochemical properties call for advanced analytical methods. This review focuses on two promising laser ablation-based techniques: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Both methods have demonstrated their utility in spatially resolved analyses, enabling the elemental characterization of microplastics. The review systematically evaluates existing studies employing these techniques, highlighting their benefits, limitations, and potential applications. Furthermore, it emphasizes the complementary nature of LIBS and LA-ICP-MS, advocating their tandem use for a comprehensive analysis of microplastics. By addressing current gaps in microplastic environmental research, this review aims to propose novel methodologies that can help to advance the understanding of the environmental fate and impacts of microplastics, facilitating the development of effective mitigation strategies.

• Language: English
• Keywords: microplastics, analytical methods, laser ablation, LA-ICP-MS
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FKKT - Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 3044-3062
• Numbering: Vol. 40, iss. 11
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175030
• UDC: 504.5:678:543
• ISSN on article: 0267-9477
• DOI: 10.1039/D5JA00141B
• COBISS.SI-ID: 251809027
• Publication date in RUL: 14.10.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry
• Shortened title: J. anal. at. spectrom.
• Publisher: The Royal Society of Chemistry
• ISSN: 0267-9477
• COBISS.SI-ID: 25705216

Licences

• License: CC BY 3.0, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
• Description: You are free to reproduce and redistribute the material in any medium or format. You are free to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mikroplastika, analizne metode, laserska ablacija, LA-ICP-MS