Temperature Self-Calibration of Always-On, Field-Deployed Ion- Selective Electrodes Based on Differential Voltage Measurement

Originally developed for use in controlled laboratory settings, potentiometric ion-selective electrode (ISE) sensors have recently been deployed for continuous, in situ measurement of analyte concentration in agricultural (e.g., nitrate), environmental (e.g., ocean acidification), industrial (e.g., wastewater), and health-care sectors (e.g., sweat sensors). However, due to uncontrolled temperature and lack of frequent calibration in these field applications, it has been difficult to achieve accuracy comparable to the laboratory setting. In this paper, we propose a novel temperature self-calibration method where the ISE sensors can serve as their own thermometer and therefore precisely measure the analyte concentration in the field condition by compensating for the temperature variations. We validate the method with controlled experiments using pH and nitrate ISEs, which use the Nernst principle for electrochemical sensing. We show that, using temperature self-calibration, pH and nitrate can be measured within 0.3% and 5% of the true concentration, respectively, under varying concentrations and temperature conditions. Moreover, we perform a field study to continuously monitor the nitrate concentration of an agricultural field over a period of 6 days. Our temperature self-calibration approach determines the nitrate concentration within 4% of the ground truth measured by laboratory-based high-precision nitrate sensors. Our approach is general and would allow battery-free temperature-corrected analyte measurement for all Nernst principle-based sensors being deployed as wearable or implantable sensors.

Automated summary

This article introduces the application of potentiometric ion-selective electrode (ISE) sensors in various fields and proposes a temperature self-calibration method to accurately measure analyte concentration in field conditions. The feasibility of the method is validated through controlled experiments and a field study.