RU2192122C2 - Device for electrochemical protection of plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: electrochemical protection of plant. SUBSTANCE: device has two electrodes of metals possessing different electrochemical potentials. One electrode functioning as anode is made of copper for implanting it in plant tissue. Second electrode used as cathode is made of silver or any other metal covered with silver or gold. Electrodes are interconnected by means of electrical conductor. Conductor length is greater than electrode-to-electrode distance. Electrochemical potential difference is built up between electrodes as soon as plant sap comes in contact with soil solution and anode starts generating copper ions. The result is enrichment of plant with copper ions. EFFECT: enhanced fungi and frost resistance of plant. 5 cl, 6 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to agriculture, and in particular to devices for protecting plants from fungi and increasing their frost resistance by enriching plants with trace elements ions resulting from an electrochemical reaction. The invention can be used to enhance plant growth by improving their nutritional conditions, as well as in aquaculture for water treatment in order to protect aquatic organisms.

 It is known that a deficiency of certain trace elements, such as copper, reduces frost resistance of plants. Copper is also a strong fungicide and is part of many antifungal agents used in agriculture. As a rule, they are toxic and pose a certain environmental hazard. A device is known for increasing productivity and reducing the growing time of plants / 1 / by exposing the soil in the root zone to a constant electric current using an agroelectrostimulator. The latter consists of a photovoltaic solar energy converter and two copper electrodes buried in the soil. The root system is located between the electrodes.

 Under the influence of electric current, electrolysis of mineral salts occurs with the release of metal ions, which, moving towards the anode, are absorbed by the root system. The same process occurs with copper cations released from the electrode.

 The disadvantage of this device is that, as the plant assimilates nutrients located between the electrodes, a deficiency of mineral salts will form in the root zone, since their ions coming from the solution from more distant zones of the soil will accumulate at the anode and cathode, which will also lead to polarization of the electrodes and reduce the expected effect. To eliminate this phenomenon, frequent application of fertilizers to the root zone is necessary, which, in turn, leads to an increase in the cost of technology and products.

 A device / 2 / is known that generates electrical signals and creates an electrophoretic field for the transfer of active substances.

 The device consists of a voltage stabilizer, which is modulated by sinusoidal or pulsed signals coming from the generator. The output voltage of the stabilizer is a component of polarized signals superimposed directly on the plant or the environment.

 The disadvantage of this device is the high resistance of the electric circuit, which requires high values of voltage and current, leads to a complication of the design and increases the cost of the device.

 A device for enriching plants with active substances and microelements / 3 / is known, consisting of a current source, a cathode superimposed on the upper part of the plant and an anode fixed at the base of the plant. The device creates an electrophoretic effect between the plant and the soil, which helps to improve plant nutrition with trace elements found in the soil in the form of ions.

The disadvantage of this device is the deterioration of the nutritional conditions of the plant with macrocells, since their ions (NO ₃ ^- , SO ₄ ^- PO ₄ ^- ), when negatively charged, will rush from the plant (cathode) to the anode. In addition, the need for an external current source increases the cost of the device.

 The closest in technical essence and the achieved result is a device according to the application of France 2609860.

 The device consists of two electrodes - a copper anode and an iron cathode. The electrodes are immersed in the soil substrate or mounted on the stem or stem of the plant. Ions are released from the copper electrode, which are then absorbed by the plant.

 A disadvantage of the known device is the need to use a power source, since the release of copper ions in a pair of copper-iron is possible only if an external electric field is applied. If the electrodes of the device are connected without a current source, they turn into a galvanic pair, which in the electrolyte medium will begin to emit iron ions, and copper ions will be deposited on the copper electrode. The result will be the opposite of what is required.

 The described process is widely known in the art as the phenomenon of electrocorrosion.

 Since all known devices are not devices that provide efficient nutrition of plants with microelements, combined with technical simplicity, attempts are made to improve them.

 The objective of the invention is the creation of an environmentally friendly, simple and reliable device for protecting plants from fungal diseases and increasing their frost resistance, with the ability to operate the device without external current sources. In addition, the tasks of improving the nutritional conditions of plants with macrocells, as well as the protection of hydrobionts in aquaculture from fungi, are being solved.

 The problem is solved in that in the known device with two electrodes, the electrode generating cations (anode) is made of copper, and the second electrode (cathode) is made of silver or any other metal and coated with silver or gold. Both electrodes are interconnected by an electrical conductor. The way this device works is that, unlike the known one, where both electrodes are buried in the soil, at least one of the electrodes (anode) is implanted in the plant tissue, and the second electrode (cathode) is also implanted in the plant tissue, or penetrates next to the plant into the soil in the area of its root system.

 If the electrodes are immersed in the aquatic environment of the aquarium, the diffusing copper ions will be absorbed by aquatic plants. In this case, implantation of the electrodes is not required.

 In addition, a variant of the device is provided where, for enriching plants with a complex of microelements, the anode is made in the form of a cannula with microelements pressed into it or from a porous material, for example, cermet impregnated with a solution of microelements. In addition, to enhance the processes of ionization and electrophoresis, a variant of the device is provided where a low-voltage direct current source, for example, a solar battery, is introduced into the formed circuit of electrodes and a conductor.

 As mentioned above, two dissimilar metals can work as galvanic pairs, accompanied by electrocorrosion processes and without external current sources. To undergo these processes, it is necessary that the primary chemical reactions (BSE. Galvanic cells) pass through the electrodes during their interaction with the electrolyte. If at least one of the electrodes is made of metal inert to the electrolyte, the dissolution of the other electrode should be explained by other reasons. For specialists in the field of electrochemistry, the presence of such causes is clearly unobvious.

 It is established that bimetallic vapors consisting of copper-silver or copper-gold, when immersed in water (even distilled), emit copper ions. The appearance of ions in solution is confirmed by spectrophotometric measurements. The observed phenomena can be explained by electrodiffusion thermodynamic processes.

 Metals, in addition to electrochemical potentials, simultaneously have their own value of the electron work function - the contact potential. When connecting two dissimilar metals, one of them where the work function is less positively charged and the other electrode negatively charged. [4, p. 476-477]. In the proposed device, copper (anode) is positively charged, and silver or gold (cathode) is negatively charged. When such a pair is immersed in any weak electrolyte, including water, from the surface of the anode, due to Coulomb repulsion, the same charged copper ions will diffuse. Here, the transition of electrons from the anode to the cathode and ion diffusion will be external forces for each other [4, p. 190-191]. Redox processes will occur not on the electrodes, but in the electrolyte and are secondary in nature. Electrodes play the role of an electron transmitter.

The invention is illustrated by drawings illustrating the achievement of the goal, where
in FIG. 1 presents a schematic electrical diagram of the proposed device;
figure 2 is an electrical diagram of a variant of the device with an external current source;
figure 3 - plant with an implanted anode and cathode;
figure 4 - plant with an implanted anode and with a cathode buried in the soil;
in FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a device with a current source suspended from a plant;
figure 6 - device installed on the aquarium;
where: 1 is the anode, 2 is the electrical conductor between the electrodes, 3 is the cathode, 4 is an external current source.

 A device for the electrochemical protection of plants consists of two electrodes with different electrochemical potentials, one of which is made of copper, and interconnected by an electrical conductor (Fig. 1). To obtain the desired effect, the device is installed on the plant (figure 3). In this case, the anode 1 and cathode 3 are implanted in the plant tissue. To do this, blind holes are pre-made in the plant, where then the electrodes are placed and covered with garden varnish. The distance between the electrodes does not matter, but the length of the conductor between the electrodes should be significantly greater than the distance between the installed electrodes. This is necessary to prevent rupture of the conductor during plant growth. Since juice circulates through the vascular system of the plant, which is an electrolyte, and a contact potential difference is formed between the electrodes, this leads to the release of trace elements, for example, copper, from the anode. After spreading the plant juice over all its systems, copper acts as a fungicide, inhibiting the formation and growth of fungi. At the same time, the frost resistance of the plant increases.

 If the anode is made in the form of a cannula with complex microelements pressed into it or if the anode is made of a porous material impregnated with a complex solution of microelements, the device also acts as a system feeder.

In the case when the anode is implanted in the plant, and the cathode is buried in the soil near the root system of the plant (Fig. 4), an electrophoretic effect arises between the plant and the cathode. The negative ions of macronutrients (NO ₄ ^- , PO ₄ ^- , SO ₄ ^- ) located in the soil rush to the roots, which accelerates the diffusion of nutrients into the liquid phase of the root mucosa. Food conditions are improving.

 To enhance the release of ions from the anode, as well as to enhance electrophoresis, a low-voltage current source 4 (FIG. 2), for example, a solar battery, which is suspended from a plant (FIG. 5), is included in the electrical circuit of the device between the electrodes. The device can also be used in aquaculture to protect hydrobionts with copper ions from fungi. For this, the device is executed on the bracket and suspended on the wall of the aquarium, so that the electrodes are immersed in an aqueous medium (Fig.6). A device installed in a plant or aquarium can function continuously for a long time (several years).

 This device is easy to manufacture, environmentally friendly and reliable in use for a long time. It can be used in agriculture and in aquaculture to protect plants and aquatic organisms from fungal diseases.

Sources of information
1. Patent RU 2058717, Mcl. A 01 G 7/04, 09/26/94, authors: Gorshenin B.A., Adamovich B.A., Adamovich A.B.

 2. Application of France 2642265, Mcl. A 01 G 7/04, 1989

 3. Application of France 2638936, Mcl. A 01 G 7/04, 1988

 4. Sivukhin D. V. General course of physics, volume III, electricity. M, Science, 1977.

Claims (5)

 1. Device for the electrochemical protection of plants, including hydrobionts, consisting of two electrodes made of metals with different electrochemical potentials, one of the electrodes (anode) made of copper with the possibility of implantation into plant tissue, characterized in that it is equipped an electrical conductor connecting the electrodes to each other, while the length of the electrical conductor is greater than the distance between the electrodes, and the second electrode (cathode) is made of silver or any other metal coated with silver or gold ohm  2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the copper anode is made in the form of a cannula with microelements pressed into it.  3. The device according to p. 1, characterized in that the copper anode is made of a porous material and impregnated with a solution of trace elements.  4. The device according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, characterized in that the second electrode (cathode) is also made with the possibility of its implantation in the tissue of the plant or buried in the soil next to the plant in the region of its root system.  5. The device according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, characterized in that it is provided with a direct current source introduced into the circuit formed from electrodes and an electrical conductor.

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