What is e-soil?
e-soil is a bioelectronic soil that can speed up the growth of plants in hydroponic spaces, or farms that grow plants without soil in environments made up of mostly water and a place for roots to attach. e-soil is made up of organic substances mixed with a conductive polymer called PEDOT, which can be found in things like sensors and OLED displays.
How does e-soil work?
Researchers from Linköping University in Sweden developed e-soil and tested its effect on barley seedlings over the span of 15 days. They found that applying a voltage as small as 0.5V on the e-soil electrically stimulated the roots, resulting in a recordable increase in the biomass of the electrically stimulated plants when compared to the non-stimulated seedlings. The stimulation’s effect on the barley seedlings was described as “steady” and “transient.” The researchers also found that the stimulated plants could process nitrogen, one of the main nutrients involved in plant growth, more efficiently.
What are the benefits of e-soil?
e-soil could offer a solution to create new ways to increase crop yields in commercial settings and especially in places where environmental conditions impact plant growth. The study highlights that this technique could minimize the use of fertilizers in farming. Moreover, e-soil could make hydroponic farms more energy-conscious, as they require less water and less artificial lighting than traditional farms.
What are the challenges and future directions of e-soil?
The researchers admit that they do not understand how the stimulation affects the plant growth process and that this will be a focus of future studies. They also acknowledge that there are challenges in scaling up the e-soil technique for large-scale agriculture, such as finding suitable materials, optimizing the electrical parameters, and ensuring safety and sustainability. However, they are optimistic that e-soil could open up new possibilities for bioelectronic applications in agriculture.