A team of McGill University researchers has developed a cost-effective, high-throughput technology for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment.

These particles are pervasive, posing health and environmental risks, yet detecting them at the nanoscale has been difficult. The 3D-printed HoLDI-MS test platform overcomes the limitations of traditional mass spectrometry by enabling direct analysis of samples without requiring complex sample preparation. The researchers say it also will work for detection of waterborne plastic particles. HoLDI-MS stands for hollow-laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

A new study led by Georgetown University’s Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology (ISMSM) researchers, Prof. Emanuela Del Gado, Dr. Mauro L. Mugnai and Rose Tchuenkam Batoum, titled “Inter-Species Interactions in Dual, Fibrous Gel Enable Control of Gel Structure and Rheology,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals a powerful way to fine-tune the structure and stiffness of soft gels. These are materials found in everything from biomedical devices to synthetic tissues.

Electronic devices rely on materials whose electrical properties change with temperature, making them less stable in extreme conditions. A discovery by McGill University researchers that challenges conventional wisdom in physics suggests that bismuth, a metal, could serve as the foundation for highly stable electronic components.The researchers observed a mysterious electrical effect in ultra-thin bismuth that remains unchanged across a wide temperature range, from near absolute zero (-273°C) to room temperature.

The substances behind the slimy strings from okra and the gel from fenugreek seeds could trap microplastics better than a commonly used synthetic polymer. Previously, researchers proposed using these sticky natural polymers to clean up water. Now, they report in ACS Omega that okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics in ocean water, freshwater and groundwater.