Real-Time Electrochemical Sensor for Phosphate Sensing in Water

The increasing global population is putting huge pressure on food production system. The improper use of fertilizers, in particular, is contributing to climate change and biodiversity loss. Existing soil monitoring techniques have serious shortcomings as they are lab based and have slow turnaround times. New digital approaches are therefore urgently required to provide timely, actionable, local data on soil and water quality across each field on a farm to maximize crop yield, eliminate waste and minimize environmental pollution. To this end, we present a reagent-free, easy-use, cost-effective, accurate electrochemical phosphate sensor with a limit of detection of 10.4 nM and sensitivity of 1.18 A/nM to allow continuously, in-field soil phosphate monitoring.