Plastics Challenge - In-situ Sensing Technology for Monitoring Microplastics in the Marine Environment

Deadline: 2021-05-26
Award: $150,000 CAD
Open to: Canadian entities*

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is seeking an innovative in situ (on-site) sensing technology for identification and quantification of microplastics in water, which will enable the development of new techniques for monitoring microplastics in Canadian waters.

Microplastics are plastic particles with characteristic length scales less than 5 mm. These particles constitute a significant proportion of the total quantity of plastic debris in waterways. However, detecting and monitoring microplastics in oceans and waterways is challenging and costly, and typically involves water sampling and laboratory analysis.

NRC is seeking an innovative technology that can measure the characteristics and distribution of microplastic particles in open water settings (coastal waters, estuaries, lakes, rivers). The technology must be capable of deployment to monitor / detect microplastics over scales ranging from tens of meters (rivers) to hundreds of kilometers (open ocean).