Soil moisture sensor enables precision farming

Developed by a team at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, the sensor could help farmers to maximise food production and save water.

“Irrigation management can help improve crop quality, decrease agricultural costs and preserve water,” said Mohamed Eddaoudi, who led the research along with Khaled Salama.

MOFs are highly porous synthetic materials with a cage-like internal structure that can be tailored to host specific small molecules, including water.

“With their modular porous structure and easy functionalisation, MOFs are excellent candidates for sensing applications,” said Osama Shekhah, a research scientist in Eddaoudi’s team. “MOF thin films have already been incorporated into electronic devices, paving the way for their translation to real-world use.”

The MOFs in the study were selected based on their hydrolytic stability, water capacity and water uptake.

“We explored several different MOFs, including the highly porous Cr-soc-MOF-1 developed by our group at KAUST that can capture twice its own weight in water,” said Ph.D. student Norah Alsadun.