Interfacing carbon nanotubes (CNT) with plants: enhancement of growth, water and ionic nutrient uptake in maize (Zea mays) and implications for nanoagriculture
By D. K. Tiwari, N. Dasgupta-Schubert, L. Cendejas, J. Villegas, L. Montoya, S. García. Applied Nanoscience, 2014
291 citations recorded by the source corpus.
The application of nano-biotechnology to crop-science/agriculture (‘nanoagriculture’) is a recent development. While carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been shown to dramatically improve germination of some comestible plants, deficiencies in consistency of behavior and reproducibility arise, partially from the variability of the CNTs used. In this work, factory-synthesized multi-walled-CNTs (MWCNTs) of quality-controlled specifications were seen to enhance the germinative growth of maize seedlings at low concentrations but depress it at higher concentrations. Growth enhancement principally arose through improved water delivery by the MWCNT. Polarized EDXRF spectrometry showed that MWCNTs affect mineral nutrient supply to the seedling through the action of the mutually opposing forces of inflow with water and retention in the medium by the ion-CNT transient-dipole interaction. The effect varied with ion type and MWCNT concentration. The differences of the Fe tissue concentrations when relatively high equimolar Fe2+ or Fe3+ was introduced, implied that the ion-CNT interaction might induce redox changes to the ion. The tissue Ca2+ concentration manifested as the antipode of the Fe2+ concentration indicating a possible cationic exchange in the cell wall matrix. SEM images showed that MWCNTs perforated the black-layer seed-coat that could explain the enhanced water delivery. The absence of perforations with the introduction of FeCl2/FeCl3 reinforces the idea of the modification of MWCNT functionality by the ion-CNT interaction. Overall, in normal media, low dose MWCNTs were seen to be beneficial, improving water absorption, plant biomass and the concentrations of the essential Ca, Fe nutrients, opening a potential for possible future commercial agricultural applications.
Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Chemistry
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/98918e1448c30a41e620680a1fde477dcc6be20b
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Citations in the corpus
- Carbon nanomaterials: production, impact on plant development, agricultural and environmental applications (2016, background): “A high variability of responses can be observed between different plant species [124, 125], various stages of plant ontogenesis [126] and different varieties [127, 128].”
- Nanotechnology and Plant Sciences (2015, background): “According to Galbraith (2007) and Torney et al. (2007) engineered nanoparticles are able to inter into plants cells and leaves, and also can transport DNA and chemicals into plant cells.”
- Role of Nanoparticles in Plants (2015, background): “MWCTs induce the water and essential Ca and Fe nutrients uptake efficiency that could enhance the seed germination and plant growth and development (Villagarcia et al. 2012; Tiwari et al. 2014).”