High-performance wearable sensor for non-destructive, real-time detection of 6-PPD on living plants using FeO nanocube-carbon nanotube nanoribbon hybrid electrocatalyst.

Despite advancements in wearable plant sensor technologies, the development of high-performance sensors suitable for real agricultural applications remains limited. In this work, we developed a wearable plant electrochemical sensor by fabricating a hybrid electrocatalyst of iron oxide nanocubes incorporated onto carbon nanotube nanoribbons (IONCs-CNRs) with a gelatin hydrogel-based semisolid electrolyte, assembled in a sandwich-like structure. This biocompatible wearable sensor offers a high surface area, excellent conductivity, enhanced electrocatalytic activity, and good mechanical properties, enabling efficient and non-destructive detection of N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6-PPD) contaminants in living plants. The hybrid catalyst exhibited an impressive 500 % enhancement in electrocatalytic activity compared to IONCs alone, highlighting its superior efficiency. These distinct properties enabled systematic optimization, resulting in impressive analytical performance, featuring a wide 6-PPD dynamic detection range of 100 nM to 18.8 µM along with an excellent sensitivity of 26.4861 µAµMcm and low detection limit of 2.93 nM. The plant sensors were successfully employed for real-time sensing of 6-PPD in various living plants, yielding high recovery rates. These high-performance, non-destructive wearable plant sensor for real-time 6-PPD detection in living plants represents a breakthrough technology, enabling precise, in-situ monitoring with broad implications for smart agriculture, environmental safety, and advanced wearable and healthcare applications.