A Novel Impedimetric Sensor Based on Cyanobacterial Extracellular Polymeric Substances for Microplastics Detection.

UNLABELLED: Cyanobacterial extracellular polymeric substances "EPS" have attracted intensive concern in biomedicine and food. Nevertheless, the use of those polymers as a sensor coating material has not yet been investigated mainly for microplastic detection. This study focuses on the application of EPS as a sensitive membrane deposited on a gold electrode and investigated with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to detect four types of microplastics with a size range of 0.1 µm to 1 mm. The surface properties of this impedimetric sensor were investigated by Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray spectroscopy and, showed a high homogenous structure with the presence of several functional groups. The measurements showed a high homogenous structure with the presence of several functional groups. The EPS-based sensor could detect the four tested microplastics with a low limit of detection of 10-11 M. It is the first report focusing on EPS extracted from cyanobacteria that could be a new quantification method for low concentrations of microplastics. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10924-022-02555-6.