Impact Assessment

Circular economy projects that measure the impacts of increasing circularity.

Nanoplastic Arrays for Microspectroscopy Calibrations

We are developing nanoplastic arrays as innovative reference materials for microspectroscopy calibrations. Our multifunctional standards will enable calibrations of instrument responses and nanoplastic structure–property relationships.

• Points of contact: Samuel Stavis and Andy Madison

Build capacity for nano- and microplastics measurements in environmental samples

Methods to quantify nano- and microplastics (NMPs) in the environment are being developed in laboratories across the world, but they are not standardized and often result in data that cannot be compared across studies. NIST researchers are developing optimal methods along the entire workflow, including extraction, purification, and analysis of count, size, shape, polymer identity, and mass of NMPs.  As part of this effort, the NIST SPHERE is being used to accelerate the aging of plastic to generate weathered plastic particles to support MNP measurement advances.

• News: NIST, Collaborators Develop New Method to Better Study Microscopic Plastics in the Ocean
• Project: Microplastic and Nanoplastic Metrology
• Points of contact: Jennifer Lynch, Li-Piin Sung, and Katherine Shaw