Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 1111 Engineering Drive, UCB 427, Boulder, CO, 80309-0427, USA.
Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, 4001 Discovery Drive, 397 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80303-0397, USA.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023 Feb;10(5):e2205785. doi: 10.1002/advs.202205785. Epub 2022 Dec 11.
Soil health is one of the key factors in determining the sustainability of global agricultural systems and the stability of natural ecosystems. Microbial decomposition activity plays an important role in soil health; and gaining spatiotemporal insights into this attribute is critical for understanding soil function as well as for managing soils to ensure agricultural supply, stem biodiversity loss, and mitigate climate change. Here, a novel in situ electronic soil decomposition sensor that relies on the degradation of a printed conductive composite trace utilizing the biopolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) as a binder is presented. This material responds selectively to microbially active environments with a continuously varying resistive signal that can be readily instrumented with low-cost electronics to enable wide spatial distribution. In soil, a correlation between sensor response and intensity of microbial decomposition activity is observed and quantified by comparison with respiration rates over 14 days, showing that devices respond predictably to both static conditions and perturbations in general decomposition activity.
土壤健康是决定全球农业系统可持续性和自然生态系统稳定性的关键因素之一。微生物分解活性在土壤健康中起着重要作用；获得对这一属性的时空洞察力对于理解土壤功能以及管理土壤以确保农业供应、阻止生物多样性丧失和减轻气候变化至关重要。在这里，提出了一种新的原位电子土壤分解传感器，该传感器依赖于利用生物聚合物聚（3-羟基丁酸-co-3-羟基戊酸）作为粘结剂的印刷导电复合材料痕迹的降解。这种材料对微生物活跃的环境具有选择性响应，其电阻信号不断变化，可以用低成本电子设备进行测量，从而实现广泛的空间分布。在土壤中，通过与 14 天内的呼吸速率进行比较，观察到传感器响应与微生物分解活性强度之间存在相关性并进行了量化，表明该设备可以对静态条件和一般分解活性的干扰进行可预测的响应。
