A novel approach to optically distinguish plastics based on fluorescence lifetime measurements

In medical and biological research, fluorescence lifetime measurements and fluorescence lifetime imaging is already a part of the standardized analysis procedures. As first investigations have shown, polymers can be identified using fluorescence lifetime imaging and an evaluation algorithm. Thus, this contribution pursues a novel approach for the direct differentiation of four polymers with fluorescence lifetime imaging. Therefore, the evaluation algorithm is extended to compare several fluorescence lifetime images to prove that a distinction is possible.