Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA.
Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguan West Road 1219, Ningbo, 315201, China.
Small. 2022 Sep;18(38):e2203899. doi: 10.1002/smll.202203899. Epub 2022 Aug 22.
The design of new remediation strategies and materials for treating saline-alkaline soils is of fundamental and practical importantance for many applications. Conventional soil remediation strategies mainly focus on the development of fertilizers or additives for water, nutrient, and heavy metal managements in soils, but they often overlook a soil sensing function for early detection of salinization/alkalization levels toward optimal and timely soil remediation. Here, new smart soils, structurally consisting of the upper signal soil and the bottom hygroscopic bed and chemically including zwitterionic, thermo-responsive poly(NIPAM-co-VPES) and poly(NIPAM-co-SBAA) aerogels in each soil layer are formulated. Upon salinization, the resultant smart soils exhibit multiple superior capacities for reducing the soil salinity and alkalinity through ion exchange, controlling the water cycling, modulating the degradation of pyridine-base ligands into water-soluble, nitrogenous salts-rich ingredients for soil fertility, and real-time monitoring salinized soils via pH-induced allochroic color changes. Further studies of plant growth in smart soils with or without salinization treatments confirm a synergy effect of soil remediation and soil sensing on facilitating the growth of plants and increasing the saline-alkaline tolerance of plants. The esign concept of smart soils can be further expanded for soil remediation and assessment.
设计用于处理盐碱土的新型修复策略和材料对于许多应用都具有基础和实际重要性。传统的土壤修复策略主要集中于开发肥料或添加剂，以用于管理土壤中的水、养分和重金属，但它们往往忽略了土壤的传感功能，无法实现对盐碱化水平的早期检测，从而无法进行最佳和及时的土壤修复。在这里，新型智能土壤由上层信号土和下层吸湿床组成，化学上包括两性离子、温敏聚（N-异丙基丙烯酰胺-co-乙烯基己内酰胺）和聚（N-异丙基丙烯酰胺-co-苯乙烯基-β-丙氨酸）气凝胶，分别位于每层土壤中。在盐碱化的情况下，这些智能土壤通过离子交换、控制水循环、调节吡啶基配体降解为富含水溶性、含氮盐的成分来提高土壤肥力，以及通过 pH 诱导的变色实现实时监测盐碱化土壤，从而表现出多种降低土壤盐度和碱度的优异能力。在有无盐碱化处理的智能土壤中进行植物生长的进一步研究证实了土壤修复和土壤传感协同作用对促进植物生长和提高植物耐盐碱性的效果。智能土壤的设计理念可以进一步扩展到土壤修复和评估中。
