Abstract
Nanoscale hydroxyapatite (nHA) was synthesized to investigate its potential as a phosphorus (P) ensembled nanofertilizer, using soybean (Glycine max L.) as a model plant. The conventional analogue phosphate (pi) was used for comparison with the synthesized nHA. Varied precipitation intensities (0%, 30%, 60%, and 100%) were simulated by adding selected volumes of the P fertilizers (nHA or pi) via foliar spray and soil amendment. The total amounts of added P were the same across all the treatments. The importance of a wash-off effect was investigated on foliar-treated seedlings by evaluating different watering heights (20, 120, and 240 cm above the seedlings). Fresh weight, pigment content, macro-, and micronutrient contents were measured in soybean tissues across all the treatments after 4 weeks of greenhouse cultivation. The synthesized nHA showed superior effects on plant nutrient content upon high precipitation intensities. For example, at 100% precipitation intensity, there was 32.6% more P and 33.2% more Ca in shoots, 40.6% more P and 45.4% more Ca in roots, and 37.9% more P and 82.3% more Ca in pods, as compared to those with pi treatment, respectively. No impact on soybean biomass was evident upon the application of nHA or pi. Further investigation into customizing nHA to enhance its affinity with crop leaves and to extend retention time on the leaf surface is warranted given that the present study did not show significant positive impacts of nHA on soybean growth under the effects of precipitation. Taken together, our findings increase understanding of the potential application of nHA as a nano-enabled fertilizer in sustainable agriculture.
Highlights
The ability to provide adequate and nutritional food worldwide will be challenged by the rapidly increasing global population, declining arable land, changing climate, and degradation of environmental resources [1,2,3]
At 100% precipitation intensity, when Nanoscale hydroxyapatite (nHA)/pi was supplied through soil amendment, Cu, Zn, and Fe content in soil were depleted by 18.6%, 18.2%, and 12.5%, respectively, with nHA treatment as compared to the control; while there was no significant alteration with pi treatment
At 0% precipitation intensity, when nHA/pi was supplied through foliar spray, Cu, Zn, and Fe content in soil were depleted by 15.7%, 16.9%, and 11.1%, respectively, with pi treatment as compared to the control; while there was no significant alteration with nHA treatment. nHA is more suitable for soil amendment to enhance soybean shoot nutrient acquisition, while pi is better for foliar spray
Summary
The ability to provide adequate and nutritional food worldwide will be challenged by the rapidly increasing global population, declining arable land, changing climate, and degradation of environmental resources [1,2,3]. For nanomaterials applied as fertilizers, there has been work on both nanoscale macro- [38,39,40,41] and micronutrients [42,43,44,45] Material properties such as size, morphology, composition, and surface characterization all can be tuned to control release, accumulation, and translocation of nutrients in plants [46,47,48,49,50,51]. Given its extensive use in biomedical applications, nanoscale hydroxyapatite (nHA) has garnered significant interest as a potential phosphorus fertilizer [53,54]. Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHA) were synthesized using a wet chemistry precipitation method by mixing calcium (II) and phosphate (1.67:1, mole weight ratio) in an alkaline solution under controlled temperatures (80 ◦C). The resulting white precipitates were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL JEM-2000FX, Tokyo, Japan), and functional group characterization was evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR spectrometer, PerkinElmer Spectrum, Waltham, MA, USA)
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