Graphene based pH microsensor networks for Blue Carbon monitoring

大气中的CO2导致海洋酸度上升，从而导致浅层沃茨中的溶解无机碳（DIC）。DIC可以被认为是小分子中与氧结合的溶解碳（即溶解的CO2、碳酸氢盐和碳酸盐）。DIC与大气中的CO2和所谓的“蓝碳”保持平衡，蓝碳是海洋中的碳，在沿海和海洋生态系统中作为碳链、植物和动物（即有机碳）结合在一起。pH值对该项目很重要，它是少数几个可以在河流和海洋中连续测量的关键参数之一，以观察DIC，并帮助我们控制和监测碳排放的影响和效果。我们的目标是直接解决目前缺乏pH传感器的问题，这些传感器可以通过制造低成本的石墨烯材料来承受河流和海洋的恶劣条件，这些材料足够“强大”和“敏感”，成为未来的主流环境传感器网络。该提案采取了问题驱动的多学科方法，以制定一个具有成本效益的解决方案，监测DIC和碳排放到河流和沿海沃茨的影响。我们的跨学科团队打算通过专注于石墨烯传感器开发来推进pH测量传感器，以应对这一重大社会挑战，并准备与领先的行业领先技术对接。

The rising acidity in the oceans from CO2 in the atmosphere contributes to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the shallow surface waters. DIC can be considered as the dissolved carbon bound to oxygen in small molecules (i.e. dissolved CO2, bicarbonate and carbonate). DIC is in balance with both the atmospheric CO2 and what is termed 'Blue Carbon', which is carbon in the ocean bound up as carbon chains, plants and animals (i.e. organic carbon) in coastal and marine ecosystems. Important to this project, pH is one of the few critical parameters that can be measured continuously in rivers and oceans to observe DIC and help us control and monitor the impact and effect of our carbon emissions. Our aim is to directly address the current lack of pH sensors available that can withstand the harsh conditions of rivers and oceans by making low cost graphene materials that are sufficiently 'robust' and 'sensitive' to become the mainstream environmental sensor networks of the future. The proposal takes a problem-driven, multidisciplinary approach to develop a cost-effective solution to monitoring DIC and the impacts of carbon released into rivers and coastal waters. Our interdisciplinary team intend to advance sensors for pH measurement via focused graphene sensor development aligned with this major societal challenge, with readiness to be interfaced with leading industry-led technology.