Patent ID: 11933740
Assignee: THE EUROPEAN UNION, REPRESENTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method for the detection of at least one nano or micro plastic particle comprised in a heterogeneous matrix material comprising the following steps:
a) applying of at least one part of a heterogeneous matrix material comprising the at least one nano or micro plastic particle onto at least a portion of a surface of a focused ion beam irradiable electrically conductive support thereby forming a first layer onto said surface, said first layer having an average thickness equal to or lower than 10 μm, the heterogeneous matrix being a medium in which the at least one nano or micro plastic particle is embedded together with a substance or a mixture of substances, the medium being selected from the group consisting of a liquid, a solution, a suspension, a paste, a cream, a tissue and wherein the heterogeneous matrix is a naturally occurring substance selected from the group consisting of cell cultures grown on a surface, creams obtained from seafood, and cultures obtained by spreading-plating methods;
b) irradiating of at least a portion of said first layer with at least one ion beam, thereby forming an irradiated layer, the at least a portion of said first layer being irradiated by using a Ga+ focused ion beam with a radiation dose which varies from 1*1013 to below 1*1017 ions/cm2 or with a radiation dose which varies from above 1*1017 to 1*1020 ions/cm2,
c) detecting of the at least one nano or micro plastic particle comprised in said irradiated layer as formed in step b) by a detection method chosen from the group of a mass spectroscopic technique, or a Raman nanoscopic technique, or an infrared nanoscopic technique, or a charge dependent detection method, or a combination thereof, wherein the charge dependent detection method is chosen from the group of SEM, EDX and combinations thereof.