Small chips, big ocean: Recent trends in microfluidic technology for marine environmental monitoring

Abstract

The ocean, a vast and enigmatic blue realm, is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities. This critical global ecosystem faces unprecedented pressures from human impacts. Pollution stemming from plastic debris, oil spills, industrial effluent, and agricultural runoff degrades marine ecosystems, compromises biodiversity, and poses significant risks to human well-being. Effective and timely monitoring is crucial for mitigating these threats. Microfluidic technology, through its precise control and manipulation of fluids at the microscale, facilitates rapid and sensitive analysis of diverse oceanographic parameters. This technology offers significant advantages for ocean monitoring, enabling miniaturization of analytical systems, cost reduction, and deployment in remote or challenging environments. This review comprehensively summarizes recent advancements in microfluidic chip technology for marine environmental monitoring, encompassing water quality analysis (dissolved oxygen, pH, nutrients); pollutant detection (oil, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants); emerging contaminant monitoring (microplastics, pharmaceuticals); and climate-related research (ocean acidification, aerosol phase behavior, ice nucleating particles). We discuss current challenges, including the need for robust, low-power devices for long-term in situ deployment, and outline the future potential of this transformative technology in marine environmental protection. This review is expected to foster further research in the application of microfluidic technologies to marine environmental monitoring and contribute significantly to ocean