La₂O₃ Nanoparticles: Study of Uptake and Distribution in Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen by LA-ICP-MS and μ-XRF

Abstract

The production and use of nanoparticles (NPs) in different fields increased in the last years. However, some NPs have toxicological properties, making these materials potential emerging pollutants. Therefore, it is important to investigate the uptake, transformation, translocation, and deposition of NPs in plants. In this work, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) were used to investigate the uptake and translocation of La2O3 NPs to stem and leaves of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen after in vitro cultivation of plants in the presence of 400 mg L–1 of La2O3 NPs. By using LA-ICP-MS and μ-XRF, image of the spatial distribution of La in the leaves was obtained, where higher concentration of La was observed in the main veins. Differences in the signal profile of La in leaves of plants cultivated in the presence of bulk La2O3 (b-La2O3) and La2O3 NPs were observed. Sharp peaks of La indicated that NPs were transported to the stems and leaves of plants treated with La2O3 NPs. Both LA-ICP-MS and μ-XRF techniques have shown to be useful for detecting NPs in plants, but LA-ICP-MS is more sensitive than μ-XRF and allowed better detection and visualization of La distribution in the whole leaf.

Fertilizing benefits of biogenic phosphorous nanonutrients on Solanum lycopersicum in soils with variable pH

“…A comparison between the fold changes in P content with reference to untreated control as determined by XRF and analytical techniques is shown in ESI Figure 5 . Similarly, by using XRF, some previous studies have reported the increased Ti concentrations in cucumbers after exposure to TiO 2 NMs [ 70 ], increased Ce and Zn in corn exposed to CeO 2 and ZnO NMs [ 71 ], increased La levels in stems and leaves of Pfaffia glomerate (Spreng) after exposure to La 2 O 3 NMs [ 72 ] and increased Si and P in Deschampsia caespitosa (L.) Beauv. following exposure to Si and P NMs [ 44 ].…”

Uptake and Benefits of Biogenic Phosphorus Nanomaterials Applied via Fertigation to Japonica Rice (Taipei 309) in Low- and High-Calcareous Soil Conditions

“…The energy spectra for different elements analyzed in rice plants after 30 days of treatment with nHAP and nP along with the control untreated plants are shown in Figure C. Previously, this technique has been employed to monitor the uptake of P in sugarcane, titania NMs in cucumber, ceria and zinc oxide NMs in corn, and lanthanum oxide (La 2 O 3 ) NMs in the stem and leaves of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng) . Silicon and P in plants have also been determined using XRF previously in Deschampsia caespitosa (L.) Beauv …”

Current Methods and Prospects for Analysis and Characterization of Nanomaterials in the Environment

“…For instance, a spatial resolution down to 50 nm was reported for the latest synchrotron-based nano-XRF . Elemental mapping by μ-XRF has been used, alone or in combination with mass spectrometry-based imaging techniques (to be discussed later), to characterize the distribution of nanomaterials in plant , and animal tissues. ,− Note that EDS and EELS are static techniques generating elemental information on samples fixed on sample holders, whereas in situ XRF analysis with high temporal resolution can provide dynamic information on nanomaterial properties. In fact, spatially resolved XRF microscopy with sub-100 nm spatial resolution was recently applied to acquire quasi-real-time elemental maps of ZnO nanorods in simulated wastewater .…”