A Cost-Effective Fluorescence-Based Framework for Microplastic Detection in Water Using Nile Red Dye

Microplastic pollution has created a growing need for simple and affordable methods that can support preliminary screening of water samples. This paper presents a fluorescence-based framework that combines Nile Red staining, camera-based imaging, and basic image-processing techniques to identify suspected microplastic particles. The proposed workflow includes sample preparation, staining, controlled fluorescence imaging, image enhancement, segmentation, and particle analysis.