PhD Studentship: Sense-treat-erase Metal Organic Frameworks for Autonomous Crop Protection

Crop disease and environmental stress threaten food production. Current protection often involves applying chemicals before there is clear evidence of need, leading to waste, off-target exposure and residues. Plants produce early signs of stress and pathogen attack, including hydrogen peroxide, acidity changes and pathogen-response genes, which could trigger crop protection, but existing products cannot detect or respond to them.

Research question:

Can sprayable metal–organic frameworks detect early plant stress, release protective treatment only when needed, report activation and then degrade into safer, non-persistent products? This project will test whether one material can combine diagnosis, targeted treatment, confirmation and safe end of life, reducing routine chemical use and improving crop resilience sustainably.

Objectives:

Identify a plant stress signal that reliably distinguishes healthy from affected plants.

Develop a metal–organic framework carrying a suitable protectant and activation signal responsive to this threshold.
Test whether activation reduces disease or stress damage.

Determine how the material changes after use and assess the safety of the material and its breakdown products in plants.
Test whether the material is suitable for field application while minimising treatment use.

Methodology:

Metal-organic frameworks are porous materials built from metal and organic components that can hold and release useful substances. Candidate materials will be prepared as leaf sprays and tested under healthy, stress and pathogen conditions. The study will measure detection accuracy, unintended leakage, treatment release, activation signal, plant health and material breakdown. Results will be compared with untreated plants, free treatment, empty material, non-responsive material and breakdown-product controls. Statistical models will link the stress signal to activation, treatment release, plant response and material removal.

Funding notes:

This is a PhD studentship with the Midlands Integrated Biosciences Training Partnership, funded by BBSRC and in partnership with the University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, Aston University, Harper Adams University, Coventry University, and the University of Leicester.

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