Author
Damian C. Onwudiwe
Other affiliations: University of Fort Hare
Bio: Damian C. Onwudiwe is an academic researcher from North-West University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dithiocarbamate & Materials science. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 161 publications receiving 2239 citations. Previous affiliations of Damian C. Onwudiwe include University of Fort Hare.
Papers
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TL;DR: In this article, the effects of the addition of macro-and nanonutrients to soil, the interaction, and the absorption capability of the plants, the environmental effect and food content of the nutrients.
Abstract: Nutrient deficiency in food crops is seriously affecting human health, especially those in the rural areas, and nanotechnology may become the most sustainable approach to alleviating this challenge. There are several ways of fortifying the nutrients in food such as dietary diversification, use of drugs and industrial fortification. However, the affordability and sustainability of these methods have not been completely achieved. Plants absorb nutrients from fertilizers, but most conventional fertilizers have low nutrient use and uptake efficiency. Nanofertilizers are, therefore, engineered to be target oriented and not easily lost. This review surveys the effects of the addition of macro- and nanonutrients to soil, the interaction, and the absorption capability of the plants, the environmental effect and food content of the nutrients. Most reports were obtained from recent works, and they show that plants nutrients could be enriched by applying nanoparticulate nutrients, which are easily absorbed by the plant. Although there are some toxicity issues associated with the use of nanoparticles in crop, biologically synthesized nanoparticles may be preferred for agricultural purposes. This would circumvent the concerns associated with toxicity, in addition to being pollution free. This report, therefore, offers more understanding on the application of nanotechnology in biofortification of plant nutrients and the future possibilities offered by this practice. It also highlights some of the ills associated with the introduction of nanomaterials into the soil for crop’s improvement.
194 citations
TL;DR: The effect of joint existence of organic pollutants and heavy metals on the removal efficiency were examined in addition to the mathematical models that discusses the mechanisms of their combine elimination in this review.
175 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reported the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using the aqueous solution of broccoli extract, represented as broc-ZnO (with broccoli extract) and nb-Zno (without broccoli extract).
Abstract: This study reports the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using the aqueous solution of broccoli extract. The nanoparticles, represented as broc-ZnO (with broccoli extract) and nb-ZnO (without broccoli...
105 citations
TL;DR: The nanoparticles showed better antimicrobial activities when compared to the crude plant extract against several screened pathogens and exhibited photocatalytic properties on an industrial waste pollutant, methylene blue.
92 citations
TL;DR: The nanocomposites have been accepted as a technique that circumvents the problems associated with the use of only metal oxides in water purification and provide a platform for an improvement in the hydrophobicity of the composite with concomitant efficiency in adsorption and photocatalysis.
87 citations
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28,685 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used in situ transmission electron microscopy to show that platinum nanocrystals can grow either by monomer attachment from solution onto the existing particles or by coalescence between the particles.
Abstract: It is conventionally assumed that the growth of monodisperse colloidal nanocrystals requires a temporally discrete nucleation followed by monomer attachment onto the existing nuclei. However, recent studies have reported violations of this classical growth model, and have suggested that inter-particle interactions are also involved during the growth. Mechanisms of nanocrystal growth still remain controversial. Using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we show that platinum nanocrystals can grow either by monomer attachment from solution onto the existing particles or by coalescence between the particles. Surprisingly, an initially broad size distribution of the nanocrystals can spontaneously narrow. We suggest that nanocrystals take different pathways of growth based on their size- and morphology-dependent internal energies. These observations are expected to be highly relevant for other nanocrystal systems.
949 citations
855 citations
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TL;DR: In the limit of a QD much smaller than the bulk exciton size, the linear spectrum will be a series of lines, and the phonon broadening of these lines is considered.
Abstract: We analyze theoretically the optical properties of ideal semiconductor crystallites so small that they show quantum confinement in all three dimensions [quantum dots (QD's)]. In the limit of a QD much smaller than the bulk exciton size, the linear spectrum will be a series of lines, and we consider the phonon broadening of these lines. The lowest interband transition will saturate like a two-level system, without exchange and Coulomb screening. Depending on the broadening, the absorption and the changes in absorption and refractive index resulting from saturation can become very large, and the local-field effects can become so strong as to give optical bistability without external feedback. The small QD limit is more readily achieved with narrow-band-gap semiconductors.
788 citations