Prototype ion-selective sensors ready for testing this year

During the past year, the various application possibilities for the sensors have been mapped out. For open-field cultivation and for greenhouse cultivation, the composition of the various water flows were examined. Based on this, a preliminary specification of the two sensor types was made from which the teams in Portugal and Turkey have started developing the sensors. The first prototypes that can be tested in the laboratory in Sweden, are expected at the end of this year. After that, the testing under practical conditions can be done in the Netherlands.

The NPK sensors use a UV technology that can determine the changes of the optical properties of the process water after it has been brought into contact with a specific chemical marker substance. For the detection of nitrate no marker was available yet. This marker seems to have been found, now that the first lab tests have shown promising results.

For the biosensors it was decided to work on imidacloprid and pirimicarb. These are two insecticides that are used throughout Europe and for which strict standards apply. For imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid, the EU recently even announced that it will proclaim an application ban for open-field crops before the end of 2018. Here too, the search was mainly for the best marker substances that can react selectively with the target substances.