Development of the portable device for the determination of nitrate-nitrogen contents in soil

Authors

  • Jun Liu 1. School of Instrument Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; 2. Institute of Agricultural Facilities and Equipment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
  • Haotian Cai 2. Institute of Agricultural Facilities and Equipment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China http://orcid.org/0009-0000-7546-8386
  • Jie Pi 2. Institute of Agricultural Facilities and Equipment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9325-2631
  • Liye Zhao 1. School of Instrument Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25165/ijabe.v18i4.8820

Keywords:

Nitrate-nitrogen, soil, electrochemical sensor, detection

Abstract

Soil nitrate-nitrogen is a crucial source of plant nutrition, making the rapid, accurate, and cost-effective determination of its content highly significant for agricultural production and environmental protection. To address the limitations of traditional methods for soil nitrate-nitrogen determination, particularly the time-consuming and lab-based sample pretreatment and analysis procedures hindering on-site applications, we developed a portable soil nitrate-nitrogen determination device based on screen-printed electrodes modified with cadmium sulfide nanorods as the core components. This device incorporates mainstream embedded system technology and employs a peak-finding algorithm utilizing low-pass filtering and second-order derivatives to automatically analyze electrochemical data, enabling swift measurement of soil nitrate-nitrogen content. Performance and application tests demonstrated that this device exhibits several key features: a detection range of 0.13.0 mmol/L, a low detection limit of 0.03 mmol/L, repeatability error below 11.7%, and measurement error below 10% compared to UV spectrophotometry. The device is characterized by its rapidity, simplicity, affordability, efficiency, and adaptability, enabling swift and user-friendly on-site determination of nitrate-nitrogen content in various types and sources of soil samples, offering a practical alternative to traditional lab-based analysis. Keywords: Nitrate-nitrogen, soil, electrochemical sensor, detection DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20251804.8820 Citation: Liu J, Cai H T, Pi J, Zhao L Y. Development of the portable device for the determination of nitrate-nitrogen contents in soil. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2025; 18(4): 216–228.

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Published

2025-08-21

How to Cite

Liu, J., Cai, H., Pi, J., & Zhao, L. (2025). Development of the portable device for the determination of nitrate-nitrogen contents in soil. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 18(4), 216–228. https://doi.org/10.25165/ijabe.v18i4.8820

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 4 (2025): IJABE

Section

Information Technology, Sensors and Control Systems

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