In this work, we have synthesized l-arginine-functionalized
3D macroporous graphene, formed through the assembling of reduced
graphene oxide nanosheets. The soil pH microsensor is fabricated on
the patterned Si/SiO2 substrates with Au-interdigitated
electrodes employing 3D graphene/l-arginine structure as
a sensing platform. The sensor exhibits an increase in conductance
toward an increase in pH of the buffer solutions (pH = 3–10)
with a sensitivity of 97 μS/pH and response of 650%. The room-temperature
pH sensing measurements are performed to detect the pH variations
in different types of soil samples. The conductance of the sensor
is correlated to the change in soil pH with increase of gravimetric
moisture contents displaying a sensitivity of 105 μS/pH and
98 μS/pH for black soil and red soil, respectively. The sensor
effectively detects soil pH changes against varying concentrations
of CaCl2 solution (1–20 mM) with a sensitivity of
121 μS/pH (black soil) and 101 μS/pH (red soil). In comparison
to the commercial pH meter, the 3D graphene/l-arginine-based
microsensor demonstrates a relative standard deviation of less than
4% in soil pH sensing measurements. The designed pH sensor displays
an excellent response with good reversibility, satisfactory linearity,
low hysteresis (3%), a response time of 30–35 s, and stability
of around 2 months.