Engineers make wearable sensors for plants, enabling measurements of water use in crops
The tool making these water measurements possible is a tiny graphene sensor that can be taped to plants – researchers have dubbed it a “plant tattoo sensor.” Graphene is a wonder material. It’s a carbon honeycomb just an atom thick, it’s great at conducting electricity and heat, and it’s strong and stable. The graphene-on-tape technology in this study has also been used to produce wearable strain and pressure sensors, including sensors built into a “smart glove” that measures hand movements.
Photo: Iowa State University researchers have developed these "plant tattoo sensors" to take real-time, direct measurements of water use in crops. Larger photo. Photo courtesy of Liang Dong.