Automated machine-learning driven analysis of microplastics by TGA-FTIR for enhanced identification and quantification

Microplastics persist as a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, and efficient methods to quantify and identify their presence are essential for assessing their environmental and health impacts. Common identification approaches typically fall under either vibrational spectroscopy or thermoanalytical techniques, with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) bridging the intersection. Despite its potential, TGA-FTIR remains relatively underutilized for microplastic analysis, even though each thermogram is associated with approximately 200 FTIR spectra that can be rapidly assessed with targeted automated data analysis. This work explores the development of data analysis routines specialized in identifying plastic components from TGA-FTIR. A dedicated spectral library and matching algorithm were created to identify polymers from their gas-phase FTIR spectra. The approach was further enhanced by utilizing machine learning (ML) classification techniques, including k-nearest neighbor, random forest, support vector classifier, and multilayer perceptrons. The performance of these classifiers for complex datasets was evaluated using synthetic datasets generated from the spectral library. ML techniques offered precise and unambiguous identification compared to a custom spectral matching algorithm. By correlating polymer identities with mass-loss in the thermogram, this approach combines qualitative insights with semi-quantitative analysis, enabling a streamlined assessment of plastic content in samples.