Correlative Effects on Nanoplastic Aggregation in Model Extracellular Biofilm Substances Investigated with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.

Recent studies show that biofilm substances in contact with nanoplastics play an important role in the aggregation and sedimentation of nanoplastics. Consequences of these processes are changes in biofilm formation and stability and changes in the transport and fate of pollutants in the environment. Having a deeper understanding of the nanoplastics-biofilm interaction would help to evaluate the risks posed by uncontrolled nanoplastic pollution.

All-polymer arrayed waveguide grating at 850 nm: design, fabrication, and characterization.

In this Letter, a novel all-polymer arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) device with an operating wavelength around 850 nm is reported. The all-polymer AWG consists of polymer ridge waveguides fabricated on a thin poly(methyl methacrylate) foil via microscope projection photolithography. The developed device is suitable to be integrated into optical circuits, e.

A microring resonator sensor for sensitive detection of 1,3,5-trinitrotoluene (TNT).

A microring resonator sensor device for sensitive detection of the explosive 1,3,5-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is presented. It is based on the combination of a silicon microring resonator and tailored receptor molecules.

Evanescent field sensors and the implementation of waveguiding nanostructures.

Conventional fiber optic evanescent-field gas sensors are based on a high number of total reflections while the gas is passing the active bare core fiber and of course a suitable laser light source. The use of miniaturized laser sources for sensitive detection of CO(2) in gaseous and water-dissolved phase for environmental monitoring are studied for signal enhancing purposes. Additionally, the fiber optic sensor, consisting of a coiled bare multimode fiber core, was sensitized by an active polymer coating for the detection of explosive TNT.