دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی سنسورهای نانوساختار (بیو) برای کشاورزی هوشمند - نشریه الزویر

Abstract

Intense farming represents one of the main sources causing detriments to vital resources as lands and water, due to unsustainable agricultural practices and the resulting environmental pollution. Furthermore, the increasing world population and the impact of climate change contribute to worsen these constraints. To these regards, several attempts have been completed to provide pioneering technologies for facing against these challenges, including nanostructured (bio)sensors. Indeed, nanotechnology-based (bio)sensors, thanks to the exploitation of fascinating properties of functional materials at the nanoscale, can support farmers in delivering fast, accurate, cost-effective, and in field analyses of i) soil humidity, ii) water and soil nutrients/pesticides, and iii) plant pathogens. Herein, we report a glance of the nano nanostructured (bio)sensors developed to support smart agriculture, reporting representative examples form the literature of the last 10 years.

4. Conclusions

In the past half century, there has been a notable increment in food production to face the increase of world population, which could reach 8.9 billion by 2050 [57]. To this aim, intensification of agricultural practices has been a prime driver of enhanced food production in the last decades, delivering nowadays an additional 25% of food compared with 1960 [58].

However, there are several claims for rethinking agriculture by developing more environmentally friendly intensification practices able providing food security as well as complying environmental and human safety. These novel practices need to be founded on core principles of sustainability, including the minimisation of the impacts of management systems on biodiversity, greenhouse gas emission, clean water, and spreading of pests and weeds [59-61]. In this context, nano(bio)sensor technology can pave the way for fostering a precision agriculture based on a more sustainable and wise use of the resources (water and land) as well as chemicals (fertiliser and pesticides), with the aim to enhance crop yields while respecting ecosystems. Indeed, in the face of rising pressure from climate change, growing populations, and decreasing crop yields, nanostructured (bio)sensors will have a significant role in the future of food and agriculture, being able to provide continuous and real-time monitoring of critical parameters for enhancing the productivity and ensure compliance with mandatory hygiene and traceability rules.

Nevertheless, despite their astonishing features in terms of high efficiency, ultra-sensitivity, robustness in storage/working conditions, minimal reaction time, accuracy, reproducibility, biocompatibility, portability, and low cost, nanostructured (bio)sensors are still under their infancy. Indeed, the most of them are at a laboratory set-up or have been developed for operating in simpler matrices as water, while there is still a gap between the design of biosensing systems and their effective application in soil analysis. In this perspective, the convergence of cross-cutting disciplines including bioinformatics and rational design of novel artificial bioreceptors (e.g. aptamers, peptide nucleic acids), innovative functional materials (e.g. nanocellulose), microfluidics, 3D printing, and internet of things will have an enormous influence on the development of custommade nano(bio)sensor at the forefront of a sustainable agriculture.