Light-Programmable Nanograspers for Rapid Nanoplastics Detection in Biological Fluids

TY - JOUR

T1 - Light-Programmable Nanograspers for Rapid Nanoplastics Detection in Biological Fluids

AU - Dong, Wenbo

AU - Xu, Bingrui

AU - Fu, Rongxin

AU - Yang, Fan

AU - Cui, Han

AU - Zhao, Zipeng

AU - Zhang, Yifan

AU - Li, Hang

AU - Chen, Kangfu

AU - Hong, Xiaorong

AU - Zhang, Jiangjiang

AU - Liu, Xuekai

AU - Li, Jiafang

AU - Wang, Yeliang

AU - Xie, Huikai

AU - Zhang, Shuailong

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 American Chemical Society

PY - 2026/3/24

Y1 - 2026/3/24

N2 - Rapid and reliable detection of nanoplastics and other analytes in complex biological and environmental media is very important for public health management and environment protection but there is still a lack of effective methods. Here, we report optoelectronic-tweezer-assisted nanograspers (OET-NGP), a reconfigurable trapping system that dynamically assembles metallic nanoparticles into light-programmable grasping structures. This approach enables not only rapid analyte enrichment but also the formation of highly uniform hotspots with improved Surface-Enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) reproducibility, achieving a detection limit as low as 4.43 × 10–8 M for Rhodamine B. More importantly, the OET-NGP platform enables in situ capture and SERS detection of nanoplastics at μg/mL level in both aqueous media and serum. These results highlight the capability and great promise of OET-NGP as a powerful sensing tool for effective nanoplastic detection with great potential for environmental monitoring and biosafety assessment.

AB - Rapid and reliable detection of nanoplastics and other analytes in complex biological and environmental media is very important for public health management and environment protection but there is still a lack of effective methods. Here, we report optoelectronic-tweezer-assisted nanograspers (OET-NGP), a reconfigurable trapping system that dynamically assembles metallic nanoparticles into light-programmable grasping structures. This approach enables not only rapid analyte enrichment but also the formation of highly uniform hotspots with improved Surface-Enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) reproducibility, achieving a detection limit as low as 4.43 × 10–8 M for Rhodamine B. More importantly, the OET-NGP platform enables in situ capture and SERS detection of nanoplastics at μg/mL level in both aqueous media and serum. These results highlight the capability and great promise of OET-NGP as a powerful sensing tool for effective nanoplastic detection with great potential for environmental monitoring and biosafety assessment.

KW - Nanoplastics

KW - SERS

KW - dielectrophoresis

KW - optical micromanipulation

KW - optical sensing

KW - optoelectronic tweezers

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033795254

U2 - 10.1021/acsnano.5c20989

DO - 10.1021/acsnano.5c20989

M3 - Article

C2 - 41781817

AN - SCOPUS:105033795254

SN - 1936-0851

VL - 20

SP - 9358

EP - 9370

JO - ACS Nano

JF - ACS Nano

IS - 11

ER -