Abstract
In this work, a citric acid monohydrate (CAM)-templated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge was proposed to mimic heterogeneous pore structures in the soil for plant cultivation. The porosity of the PDMS sponges was tuned by adjusting the CAM template. The water intake capability of the sponge was improved by (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) functionalization. The pore size and pore distribution were characterized by SEM and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The effect of pore structures on Oryzasativa (O. sativa) growth was investigated. Also, a 3D multi-layer PDMS sponge assembling was proposed to mimic the heterogeneous pore distribution at the different soil depth. The different growth rates of O. sativa and Nicotiana tabacum L. (N. tabacum) seeds on porous PDMS sponge indicated the impact of physical obstacles (pores) and chemical (water content) conditions on plant development. It is anticipated that this PDMS sponge could serve as a 3D matrix to mimic soil and provide a new idea for plant cultivation.
Highlights
Botanical research is a major field of life sciences, and progress in botanic science is closely related to economics and everyone’s daily life [1,2]
Of PDMS sponge prepared through the citric acid monohydrate (CAM) template is 114.90◦ ± 3.44◦
We proposed a layer-by-layer PDMS sponge model to establish a 3D matrix with different porosities at different depths
Summary
Botanical research is a major field of life sciences, and progress in botanic science is closely related to economics and everyone’s daily life [1,2]. Xu et al [6] improved this method to allow roots and plant shoots to grow in dark conditions Materials, such as hydroponics and agar culture, are still the most prominent, and the nonnegligible deficiency is that they do not truly reflect the structure of the soil. Made soilless culture substrate with rye straw pieces, peat, and rock wool Solid substrates such as sawdust [12], cotton fiber [13], glass ball [14], and silica gel [15], were being used as artificial soil to support plant growth. Inspired by the micro-replication method to generate micro-structured PDMS, this work proposed a citric acid monohydrate (CAM)-templet PDMS sponge as a 3D porous culture base to support plant growth. It is anticipated this PDMS sponge will serve as a 3D matrix to mimic soil and provide a new idea for plant cultivation
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