MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL PESTICIDE CONCENTRATIONS WITH GRAPHENE-BASED BIOINSPIRED MOISTURE COLLECTION AND SENSOR SYSTEMS

The overall goalof this project is tocreate smart electrochemical sensors and systems that would allow users to monitor pesticide coverageon plants and pesticide drifit, i.e., at the back end of the spraying process and monitor pesticide levels from field-to-stream runoffs due to over applying pesticides, contaminating other sources. It is expected that such systems will help farmers determine if certain spray techniques are able to unifomrly cover the all of the crop canopy and reapply pesticide treatments only when needed and will help extension specialists here at Iowa State University and establish new pesticide spray guidelines to prevent non-target pesticide plant injury and decrease contamination of soil runoffs. The proposed project objectives will be accomplished by developing eco-friendly graphene sensors and microfluidics all through a high- throughput laser scribing process and custom, portable electrochemical devices and systems for in-situ sensing. The portable electrochemical devices will explore a variety of circuit boards to determine to necessarily electrical capabilities for electrochemical techniques.This project goal will be measurable by the following four objectives:1. Developnon-enzymatic sensors for detection of pesticidespray to determine if traditional or new pesticide spray techniques lead to uniform coverage throughout the crop canopy2. Develop an analytical and numerical model of fluidics on laser-induced graphene (LIG) thatwill lead samples to pesticide selective sensors3. Create a near-field potentiostat a smartphone can read via wireless connection4. Evaluate the performance of the sensor and electrochemical system in local research fields andwatersheds through current collaborations