Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 19: Poster 1

MA 19.48: Poster

Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 17:30–20:00, P2

Identification and characterization of plastics using THz-spectroscopy — •Tobias Kleinke, Finn-Frederik Lietzow, Ulrike Martens, Jakob Walowski, and Markus Münzenberg — Institute of Physics, University Greifswald, Germany

THz-spectroscopy is an attractive tool for scientific research, especially in life science, offering non-destructive interaction with matter due to its low photon energies [1]. Current research investigates the impact of plastic nanoparticles on cell tissue in several aspects, because those particles are highly abundant in the environment and also enter the human body potentially causing harmful interactions [2].

THz spectroscopy offers the opportunity to discover and study the influence of microplastics in living human cells. Our project aims to identify and characterize different types of plastics in the human body or even in cells. Therefore it is necessary to set up a database with THz-spectra of the most abundant polymers. We analyse transmission spectra of several plastics with a commercial THz spectrometer (bandwidth from 0.1 to 6 THz) and identified specific absorption peaks for the individual studied materials. Furthermore, by determining the refractive index and the absorption coefficient, specific polymers can be characterized and identified.

[1] W. Shi et al., Journal of Biophysics, Vol. 14, 2021

[2] A. Ragusa et al., Environment International, Vol. 146, 2021