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Abstract The chemical composition of growing media is a key factor for plant growth, impacting agricultural yield and sustainability. However, there is a lack of affordable chemical sensors for ubiquitous nutrient ion monitoring in agricultural applications. This work investigates using fully printed ion‐sensor arrays to measure the concentrations of nitrate, ammonium, and potassium in mixed‐electrolyte media. Ion sensor arrays composed of nitrate, ammonium, and potassium ion‐selective electrodes and a printed silver‐silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) reference electrode are fabricated and characterized in aqueous solutions in a range of concentrations that encompass what is typical for agricultural growing media (0.01 mm–1m). The sensors are also tested in mixed‐electrolyte solutions of NaNO3, NH4Cl, and KCl of varying concentrations, and the recorded potentials are input into Nernstian and artificial neural network models to compare the prediction accuracy of the models against ground truth. The artificial neural network models demonstrated higher accuracy over the Nernstian model, and the model using only ion‐sensor inputs is 7.5% more accurate than the Nernstian model under the same conditions. By enabling more precise and efficient fertilizer application, these sensor arrays coupled to computational models can help increase crop yields, optimize resource use, and reduce environmental impact.
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Printed Organic Electrochemical Transistors for Detecting Nutrients in Whole Plant Sap
Abstract Low‐cost biosensors that can rapidly and widely monitor plant nutritional levels will be critical for better understanding plant health and improving precision agriculture decision making. In this work, fully printed ion‐selective organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) that can detect macronutrient concentrations in whole plant sap are described. Potassium, the most concentrated cation in the majority of plants, is selected as the target analyte as it plays a critical role in plant growth and development. The ion sensors demonstrate high current (170 µA dec−1) and voltage (99 mV dec−1) sensitivity, and a low limit of detection (10 × 10−6 m). These OECT biosensors can be used to determine potassium concentration in raw sap and sap‐like aqueous environments demonstrating a log‐linear response within the expected physiological range of cations in plants. The performance of these printed devices enables their use in high‐throughput plant health monitoring in agricultural and ecological applications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1935594
- PAR ID:
- 10366380
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Electronic Materials
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2199-160X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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