Project description
Microplastic detection in drinking water
Microplastic pollution is a growing issue that affects both human health and wildlife. These tiny particles are found everywhere, including in our drinking water, and they can be harmful to both the environment and people. Current methods for detecting microplastics in water are slow, costly, and not efficient enough for large-scale monitoring. This makes it difficult for water agencies to keep up with the problem. With this in mind, the ERC-funded project aims to solve this challenge with a new type of efficient sensor. Specifically, the new sensor can quickly and accurately detect microplastics by measuring their size and electrical properties. This will help water agencies better monitor microplastics in drinking water.
Objective
Microplastics pollution is becoming increasingly problematic due to its involvement in a myriad of health problems and its effects on natural wildlife. Water agencies across the globe are progressively implementing screening policies for drinking water to address this issue. However, this is proving to be challenging since the existing monitoring technologies are labor intensive and time-consuming with low throughput. To address the issue, we propose a new flow-through sensor that builds upon technologies that were developed during our main ERC project. The sensor device combines two different electronic sensors that extract both the size and the dielectric permittivity of microparticles passing through the system in a rapid and high throughput manner. The dielectric permittivity is a robust parameter that can be used to identify plastics from other materials found naturally in the environment. By utilizing this difference at the single microparticle level, our new technology can be used either to eliminate non-plastic materials from samples for down-stream conventional microplastics spectroscopy, or as a stand-alone automated sensor for rapid microplastics quantification in drinking water samples. Here, we will set up a microplastics workbench to cross-validate the accuracy of our proposed technology. After validation and securing the IP rights, we will seek out drinking water samples from water boards across the globe to analyze them in our lab. This will allow us to form networks of collaborators and lead us towards providing rapid microplastics analysis as a commercial service to water regulation agencies. In addition to the potential economic opportunities, we envision that our technology will accelerate microplastics screening and play a significant role in stymieing the spread of microplastics pollution.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology lab on a chip
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-POC2
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
06800 Bilkent Ankara
Türkiye
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.