Engineers at da University o Glesga hae unveiled a grundbrakin screen-printed sensor dat can be left tae brak doon in sile efter uise. Da sensor is meant tae track sile traits sic as pH an temperature. It is made frae materials dat, whan dey decay, serve as plant feed.

Da sensor is pairt o da international TESLA project. TESLA, short for Transient Electronics for Sustainable ICT in Digital Agriculture, is a £1.8m effort led by Glesga. Da project jyns haands wi McGill University in Canada, Tampere University an VTT Technical Research Centre o Finland Ltd, as weel as da Łukasiewicz Research Netwark an CSEM in Switzerland. Da team aims tae bigg a fu system whar biodegradable patches wark wi solar cells, supercapacitors, an rewarkable electronic modules tae gie a complete, eco-friendly solution for digital agriculture.

For tae study, scientists eesed screen-printin—a method akin tae dat seen in t-shirt design—tae form conductive tracks on a biodegradable plastic base eesin graphene-carbon ink. A layer o molybdenum disulfide is den printed ower da top. In lab tests, da sensors shawed steady results in solutions frae pH 3 tae pH 8 ower twa weeks. Dey wir even able tae note traces o ethephon, a chemical eesed tae spur plant growth dat micht be hairmfu if it leaks intae watter.

“Reliable feed production is ane o da warld’s maist pressin problems, wi mair dan 800 million fowk aroond da warld sufferin frae malnutrition da day. Digital agriculture cuid be da key tae maximisin wir ability tae produce eneuch feed for a growin population,” said Dr Joseph Cameron o da James Watt School o Engineerin.

Co-author Andrew Rollo spoke on da impact o da wark. “Da system we’ve developed cuid gang a lang wey tae cuttin doon da carbon fitprint o digital agriculture. Da sensors deirsels can be plooed back intae da fields tae help nurture crops, an da electronic modules wi less environmentally friendly printed circuit materials can be re-uised for several year. Wir analysis suggested dat replacin da sensors aince ivery three months cuid reduce da environmental impact o da system by 66%, an 79% ower five year compared tae disposin o da hale device ilka time,” he explained.

Professor Jeff Kettle, wha led da research, stressed da need for chynge. “We urgently need tae find a wey tae mak digital agriculture mair sustainable in da year tae come. Currently, aroond 80% o da warld’s electronics heid straicht tae landfill aince dey’ve raxed da eyn o deir uisefu life, dat creates massive environmental an public halth challenges frae toxic materials dat mony o dem contain. We’re keen tae continue expandin wir biodegradable sensor’s ability tae detect idder key indicators o plant growth an sile halth. Dat cuid include addin sensitivity tae ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAs, dat hae significant environmental impact.”

Da research, reported in ACS Applied Electronic Materials, brings a new approach tae digital agriculture. Da sensor patches wark alangside conventional electronics. Tagidder, dey help fermers bigg a clear picture o crop halth an sile conditions. By keepin da pairts dat canna be composted for re-uise, da setup laaers waste an cost while aimin tae cut doon da burden on naiture. Da wark is supported by da Engineerin an Physical Sciences Research Cooncil an da São Paulo Research Foondation.

Dis new technology cuid licht da wey tae mair efficient feed production in a time whan da demand for feed is expected tae rise steeply.