The impact of nanofertilizer on agro-morphological criteria, yield, and genomic stability of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

The use of agricultural fertilizers is one of the methods to beat the desired enormous increase in universal food production. The application of nanotechnology in agriculture is regarded as one of the promising approaches to elevate crop production. Whereas mineral nutrients play a crucial role in the growth and yield of the common bean. The experiments were conducted to investigate the application effect of micronutrients as nanoparticles (MN-NPs) on the common ben plants. The trial was performed in the field in El-Menofya, Egypt, through two seasons (2019 & 2020) in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and four combinations of MN-NPs (ZnO, MnO2 and MoO3) with concentrations 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 mg/L as a foliar application. The data exhibited that the foliar application of MN-NPs significantly upgraded the vegetative growth characters, flower number/plant, photosynthetic pigments, and yield. The concentration of 40 mg/L of MN-NPs leads to improving the vegetative growth, flowering number, and yield characteristics of the common bean. While the biochemical components varied in their response to MN-NPs combinations. The recommended MN-NPs concentration to ameliorate the common bean growth and yield was 40 mg/L.

Applications of nanotechnology on vegetable crops.

Agriculture is the backbone of most developing countries, and most of their people depend on it for their livelihood. The world population is increased by approximately 83 million people each year, so there is a need to increase agricultural productivity. At present, productivity growth can be achieved either by expanding the area cultivated or increasing crop yields through improving the efficiency of fertilizers used. Therefore, there has been a trend to use modern technologies, such as nanotechnology (NT), to increase the productivity of plants. Where, it is involved in the food production process, from planting to packaging. NT improves plants' ability to absorb nutrients, and the agronomic properties of soil, which improves plant growth and productivity. Economically, NT increased the efficiency of nano-fertilizers, and so contributed to increasing productivity and the production of crops. However, the study of the effect of nanotechnology on the environment of soils and plants did not receive the required study. In this review, a comprehensive survey is exhibited on NT as an effective method in dealing with the problem of fertilizer loss during irrigation. This review discusses the technologies and applications of the latest research findings in this field. Furthermore, this review deals with the forms and types of nanoparticles and the methods of their transmission in plants, as well as their effect on plants (physiological and DNA) as well as on those who eat those plants.

Grafted TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber embedded with modified magnetite for effective adsorption of lead ions.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly a billion people do not have incoming to pure drinking water and much of that water is contaminated with high levels of heavy elements. In this study, adsorption of lead ions has been studied by nanocomposites which prepared through acrylic acid grafting and amino-functionalized magnetized (FM-NPs) TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TEMPO-CNF). The amino-functionalized magnetite was acting as a crosslinked. The crystallinity of TEMPO-CNF was 75 with a 4-10 nm diameter range, while the average particle size of FM-NPs was 30 nm. The adsorption studies illustrated that the elimination efficiency of lead ions was 80% by the prepared nanocomposite that includes a minimum amount of crosslinker (1%), which demonstrated that the magnetic grafted oxidized cellulose nanofiber nanocomposite is a promising green adsorbent material to eliminate heavy metal ions and is additionally easy to get rid of due to its magnetic property. The kinetics and isotherms studied found that the sorption reaction follows a pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.997) and Freundlich model (R2 = 0.993), respectively, this indicated that the adsorption of lead ion occurs within the pores and via the functional groups present on the nanocomposite.

The influence of MoO3-NPs on agro-morphological criteria, genomic stability of DNA, biochemical assay, and production of common dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Molybdenum is considered one of the most important micronutrients applied as a foliar fertilizer for common dry bean. In this study, molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (MoO3-NPs) were applied in different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm) over two sequent seasons, 2018 and 2019, to investigate their effect on the plant morphological criteria, yield, and the genomic stability of DNA. The results showed that the application of 40 ppm MoO3-NPs as a foliar fertilizer showed preferable values of plant morphological criteria, such as the number of leaves and branches per plant, as well as the fresh and dry weight with regard to the common bean plant. In addition, the seed yield increased by 82.4% and 84.1% with 40 ppm, while the shoot residue increased by 32.2% and 32.1% with 20 ppm of MoO3-NPs during two seasons, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Furthermore, the common bean treated with 20 and 40 ppm MoO3-NPs had positive unique bands with ISSR primer 848 at 1400 bp (Rf 0.519) and with primer ISSR2M at 200 bp (Rf 0.729), respectively. In addition, SDS-PAGE reveald some proteins in seedlings which were absent in the flowering stage at 154, 102, 64, 37 and 34 KDa, which may be due to differences in plant proteins required for metabolic processes in each stage. In conclusion, the application of 40 ppm MoO3-NPs was more effective on the productivity of the common bean plants.

A novel electromagnetic biodegradable nanocomposite based on cellulose, polyaniline, and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles.

Biodegradable, antimicrobial, and semiconducting cellulosic composite was synthesized by in-situ polymerization of polyaniline in the presence of cellulose. The cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFO-NPs) were added during the polymerization process to acquire this composite magnetic property. The CFO-NPs were prepared by sol-gel method with average particles size less than 50 nm. The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). In addition, their magnetic, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and conductivity behaviors were studied. The magnetization (Ms) and conductivity increased up to 3.7 emu/g and 3.5 × 10-3 S/cm, respectively, with increasing CFO-NPs content. The prepared electromagnetic nanocomposite exhibits highly efficient biodegradability and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activity increased with increasing CFO-NPs while the biodegradability decreased.

Green, economic, and partially biodegradable wood plastic composites via enzymatic surface modification of lignocellulosic fibers.

Lignocellulosic fibers, which obtained from Citrus trees trimmings, were modified with Aspergillus flavus (EGYPTA5) enzymes. The non-modified and the modified lignocellulosic fibers were used with low density polyethylene (LDPE) by melt blending brabender method at 170 °C with different ratio (5, 10 and 20 wt%) to obtain wood plastic composites (WPC). The prepared samples were characterized using Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR), Scan Electron Microscope (SEM), and Water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) as well as, the mechanical, thermal, biodegradability and swelling properties were examined. The fabricated WPC displayed good mechanical and thermal properties compare with pure LDPE. Also, the WVTR was enhanced by the addition of modified lignocellulosic fibers over the unmodified one. Moreover, the enzymes assay such as cellulase and lignin peroxidase enzymes were estimated and confirming the growing of fungi on the lignocellulosic fiber in solid state fermentation condition to improve lignin peroxidase production and eliminate cellulose enzymes. The fabricated WPC can be used in different environmental application such as packaging system, that it will be green, economic, and partially biodegradable.

Preparation and characterization of chitosan/polyacrylic acid/copper nanocomposites and their impact on onion production.

Chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) and chitosan/polyacrylic acid hydrogel nanoparticles (CS/PAA-HNPs) were obtained by ionic gelation with tripolyphosphate anions and copolymerization of CS with acrylic acid (AA), respectively. The prepared NPs were loaded by different concentrations of copper (1, 2 and 3% with respect to CS) to obtain chitosan/copper nanocomposites (CS/Cu-NCs) and chitosan/polyacrylic acid/copper hydrogel nanocomposites (CS/PAA/Cu-HNCs). The prepared NPs and their NCs were characterized by different techniques. The swelling properties and copper release from CS/Cu-NCs and CS/PAA/Cu-HNCs were evaluated. The antibacterial activity of the prepared samples against bacteria (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), fungi, and yeast were investigated. The results displayed that the copper release, as well as the swelling percentage of CS/PAA/Cu-HNCs, were higher than that of CS/Cu-NCs. Furthermore, the impact of using CuSO4, CS/Cu-NCs, and CS/PAA/Cu-HNCs as a different source of copper on chlorophyll content, vegetative growth, minerals content, and the yield of onion plants during two seasons 2016 and 2017 were studied. It was found that the yield, plant growth, and nutrient content of onion bulbs were improved using CS/PAA-HNPs, which was loaded with 75 ppm copper, as foliar spray for onion plants.

Biodegradable grafting cellulose/clay composites for metal ions removal.

Biodegradable bi-functional cellulose derivatives were synthesized to remove widespread underground water cations such as; Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+. Firstly, graft copolymerization of cellulose with binary monomers such as acrylic acid (AA), and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) with acrylamide (Am) were achieved using potassium persulfate as initiator. Then, cellulose/clay composites were prepared by graft copolymerization of cellulose using different montmorillonite concentrations such as 3, 6 and 9% weight/cellulose weight. The obtained Biodegradable grafted cellulose and their composites were used as adsorbents for the removal of Ca, Mg, Fe, Pb, and Cu ions individually from aqueous solutions. A possible reaction mechanism was deduced and the products were characterized by Fourier transfer infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal degradation by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results obtained from this study revealed that as the content of clay increases, the uptake of cations increasing and the removal order of the composites were Pb2+ > Mg2+ > Fe2+ > Cu2+ > Ca2+. The biodegradability of grafted cellulose was increased by the addition of clay.