Microplastics characterization by hyperspectral imaging in the SWIR range

The aim of this study is to develop a new methodology based on optical sensors able to recognize and characterize microplastics collected in the marine environment. In recent years, this pollution represents an environmental emergency with serious effects on human health and marine organisms. The study was carried out on microplastics collected in different geographical areas. Through the hyperspectral imaging (HSI) based approach, performed in the SWIR range (1000-2500 nm), a classification model based on chemometric techniques was implemented in order to identify in a rapid, non invasive and non-destructive way the polymers in the investigated samples.