Nanotechnology is one of the most important tools in modern agriculture, and agri-food nanotechnology is anticipated to become a driving economic force in the near future. Agri-food themes focus on sustainability and protection of agriculturally produced foods, including crops for human consumption and animal feeding. Nanotechnology provides new agrochemical agents and new delivery mechanisms to improve crop productivity, and it promises to reduce pesticide use. Nanotechnology can boost agricultural production, and its applications include: 1) nanoformulations of agrochemicals for applying pesticides and fertilizers for crop improvement; 2) the application of nanosensors/nanobiosensors in crop protection for the identification of diseases and residues of agrochemicals; 3) nanodevices for the genetic manipulation of plants; 4) plant disease diagnostics; 5) animal health, animal breeding, poultry production; and 6) postharvest management. Precision farming techniques could be used to further improve crop yields but not damage soil and water, reduce nitrogen loss due to leaching and emissions, as well as enhance nutrients long-term incorporation by soil microorganisms. Nanotechnology uses include nanoparticle-mediated gene or DNA transfer in plants for the development of insect-resistant varieties, food processing and storage, nanofeed additives, and increased product shelf life. Nanotechnology promises to accelerate the development of biomass-to-fuels production technologies. Experts feel that the potential benefits of nanotechnology for agriculture, food, fisheries, and aquaculture need to be balanced against concerns for the soil, water, and environment and the occupational health of workers. Raising awareness of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector, including feed and food ingredients, intelligent packaging and quick-detection systems, is one of the keys to influencing consumer acceptance. On the basis of only a handful of toxicological studies, concerns have arisen regarding the safety of nanomaterials, and researchers and companies will need to prove that these nanotechnologies do not have more of a negative impact on the environment.

https://www.dovepress.com/getfile.php?fileID=20118

Nanotechnology in agri-food production: an overview.

Microwave-assisted preparation of inorganic nanostructures in liquid phase.

Xin Zhou,†,‡ Songyi Lee,† Zhaochao Xu,* and Juyoung Yoon*,† †Department of Chemistry and Nanoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, Republic of Korea ‡Research Center for Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, Yanbian University, Yanjii 133002, People’s Republic of China Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Shahekou, Dalian, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

Recent Progress on the Development of Chemosensors for Gases.

Interest in “green nanotechnology” in nanoparticle biosynthesis is growing among researchers. Nanotechnologies, due to their physicochemical and biological properties, have applications in diverse fields, including drug delivery, sensors, optoelectronics, and magnetic devices. This review focuses on the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using plant sources. Green synthesis of nanoparticles is an eco-friendly approach, which should be further explored for the potential of different plants to synthesize nanoparticles. The sizes of AgNPs are in the range of 1 to 100 nm. Characterization of synthesized nanoparticles is accomplished through UV spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. AgNPs have great potential to act as antimicrobial agents. The green synthesis of AgNPs can be efficiently applied for future engineering and medical concerns. Different types of cancers can be treated and/or controlled by phytonanotechnology. The present review provides a comprehensive survey of plant-mediated synthesis of AgNPs with specific focus on their applications, e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities.

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Plant-Mediated Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles: Their Characteristic Properties and Therapeutic Applications.

Attempts to apply nanotechnology in agriculture began with the growing realization that conventional farming technologies would neither be able to increase productivity any further nor restore ecosystems damaged by existing technologies back to their pristine state; in particular because the long-term effects of farming with “miracle seeds”, in conjunction with irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides, have been questioned both at the scientific and policy levels, and must be gradually phased out. Nanotechnology in agriculture has gained momentum in the last decade with an abundance of public funding, but the pace of development is modest, even though many disciplines come under the umbrella of agriculture. This could be attributed to: a unique nature of farm production, which functions as an open system whereby energy and matter are exchanged freely; the scale of demand of input materials always being gigantic in contrast with industrial nanoproducts; an absence of control over the input nanomaterials in contrast with industrial nanoproducts (eg, the cell phone) and because their fate has to be conceived on the geosphere (pedosphere)-biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere continuum; the time lag of emerging technologies reaching the farmers’ field, especially given that many emerging economies are unwilling to spend on innovation; and the lack of foresight resulting from agricultural education not having attracted a sufficient number of brilliant minds the world over, while personnel from kindred disciplines might lack an understanding of agricultural production systems. If these issues are taken care of, nanotechnologic intervention in farming has bright prospects for improving the efficiency of nutrient use through nanoformulations of fertilizers, breaking yield barriers through bionanotechnology, surveillance and control of pests and diseases, understanding mechanisms of host-parasite interactions at the molecular level, development of new-generation pesticides and their carriers, preservation and packaging of food and food additives, strengthening of natural fibers, removal of contaminants from soil and water, improving the shelf-life of vegetables and flowers, clay-based nanoresources for precision water management, reclamation of salt-affected soils, and stabilization of erosion-prone surfaces, to name a few.

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Nanotechnology in agriculture: prospects and constraints.

Doping effects of Co2+ ions on structural and magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Formation and characterization of ZnO nanopowder synthesized by sol–gel method

This work presented controllable growth of ZnO nanostructures with different aspect ratios by the microwave irradiation method and investigated the photocatalytic degradation of methyl red (MR). X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) measurements showed that all ZnO nanostructures were of a hexagonal phase structure. It was revealed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images that the morphology of ZnO can be effectively controlled as sheet-like, rod-like, brush-like, flower-like, prism-like, and pyramid-like only by changing the molar ratio (zinc acetate: KOH) and reaction time. With the increase of molar ratio and reaction time, modification in the E2(high) and E1(LO) Raman modes was observed. The energy band gap was found to be tuned by the aspect ratio of ZnO nanostructures. Photoluminescence spectroscopy revealed the low-intensity NBE emission and high and broad defect-related emission for high aspect ratio (14) nanorods. BET surface area porosity analysis confirmed the presence of a mesoporous network in all the nanostructures, showed high surface area and a uniform pore-size distribution for high aspect ratio nanorods. A terephthalic acid assay study confirmed the formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH) in MR dye solution treated with a ZnO nanostructures photocatalyst. The photodegradation of MR under UV light irradiation showed that ZnO nanorods with a high aspect ratio of ∼14 showed superior photodegradation (∼98% degradation of MR within 60 min) than that of the lower aspect ratio nanostructures. The apparent reaction rate constant for high aspect ratio (14) nanorods was higher than that of the lower aspect ratio nanostructures. The enhancement in photocatalytic performance could be due to the high surface area and enhanced charge separation and transfer efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers in the high aspect ratio nanorods.

Morphological evolution of ZnO nanostructures and their aspect ratio-induced enhancement in photocatalytic properties

In this work, undoped and Fe-doped single-crystalline ZnO nanostructures were successfully synthesized by a facile microwave irradiation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that Fe-doped ZnO was comprised of a single phase nature with a hexagonal wurtzite structure up to 5% Fe doping, however, secondary phase ZnFe2O4 appeared upon further increasing the Fe dopant concentration. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and TEM micrographs suggested that the length and diameter of the undoped ZnO rods are about ∼2 μm and ∼200 nm, respectively. Interestingly, the morphology of ZnO changed from nanorods (1% Fe) with length ∼500 nm and diameter ∼50 nm to nanosheets (5% Fe) having thickness and lateral dimension of ∼30 nm and ∼400 nm, respectively. NEXAFS and EELS studies revealed the absence of metal clusters up to 5% and Fe is found to be in a mixed (Fe2+/Fe3+) valence state with Fe2+ as the dominant state. Optical studies depicted that the absorption peak of Fe-doped ZnO was blue-shifted as the concentration of Fe increases from 1 to 5%. However, for dopant concentration >5%, the absorption peak was found to be red-shifted with an additional absorption peak of ZnFe2O4. Also, the band gap energy decreased monotonically with the increase of Fe concentration from 1 to 5%, while increasing on further doping, band gap increased. Raman scattering spectra of Fe-doped ZnO revealed the lower frequency shift of Ehigh2 mode with doping. Magnetic studies showed that Fe doped ZnO exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) and the value of magnetization increased up to 5% doping and then decreased for 7 and 10% Fe-doped samples.

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Nishat Arshi

Papers

Doping effects of Co2+ ions on structural and magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Formation and characterization of ZnO nanopowder synthesized by sol–gel method

Morphological evolution of ZnO nanostructures and their aspect ratio-induced enhancement in photocatalytic properties

Morphological evolution between nanorods to nanosheets and room temperature ferromagnetism of Fe-doped ZnO nanostructures

Preparation and characterizations of polyaniline (PANI)/ZnO nanocomposites film using solution casting method