Low mobility of CuO and TiO2 nanoparticles in agricultural soils of contrasting texture and organic matter content

Abstract

The fate of nanoparticles (NPs) in soil under relevant environmental conditions is still poorly understood. In this study, the mobility of two metal-oxide nanoparticles (CuO and TiO2) in contrasting agricultural soils was investigated in water-saturated soil columns. The transport of TiO2 and CuO-NPs were assessed in six soils with three different textures (from sand to clay) and two contrasted organic matter (OM) contents for each texture. TiO2 mobility was very low in all soils, regardless of texture and OM content. Mass recoveries were always less than 5%, probably in relation with the strong homo-aggregation of TiO2-NPs observed in all soil solutions, with apparent sizes 3-6 times larger than their nominal size. This low mobility suggests that TiO2-NPs present a low risk of direct groundwater contamination in contrasted surface soils. Although their retention was also generally high (more than 86%), CuO nanoparticles were found to be mobile in all soils. This is probably related to their smaller apparent size and low capacity of homo-aggregation of CuO-NPs in all soil solutions. No clear influence of neither soil texture or soil total organic matter content could be observed on CuO transport. However, this study shows that in contrasted agricultural soils, CuO-NPs transport is mainly controlled by the solutes dissolved in soil solution (DOC and PO4 species), rather than by the properties of the soil solid phase.

Enhancing Agrichemical Delivery and Plant Development with Biopolymer-Based Stimuli Responsive Core–Shell Nanostructures

“…More specifically, the responsive core–shell nanostructure may release NPK and Cu at the right time and right dose in the soil as compared to conventional fertilizer application scenarios. It is worth noting that the core–shell nanostructures synthesized in this study are water insoluble and hydrophobic, and have high specific surface area; therefore, they can be easily attached to the mineral clays or other organic matter and retained in the soil for longer time periods until they are fully degraded. − In contrast, conventional agrichemicals (ionic NPK and micronutrients) are water-soluble, and they can easily runoff from soil when the plant is watered or if precipitation occurs. More mechanistic plant specific studies will be performed in the future to optimize the growth of plants while tuning the agrichemical delivery strategy which is tunable as our results demonstrated in this study.…”

Silver Nanoparticle’s Toxicological Effects and Phytoremediation

“…Metal-based nanoparticles are among the most recent types of anthropogenic materials that can potentially harm the ecosystem if used in a high concentration [ 14 ]. Nanoparticles can be released into the soil during production, agricultural or industrial applications, or accidental spillage [ 15 ]. Nanoparticles can also increase the bioavailability of metals in the soil and potentially result in higher environmental risk [ 16 ].…”

A comparative proteomics study of Arabidopsis thaliana responding to the coexistence of BPA and TiO2-NPs at environmentally relevant concentrations

“…Thus, in this study we used environmentally relevant levels of BPA ranging from 10 to 1000 μg·kg −1 and TiO 2 -NPs concentrations from 1 to 100 mg·kg −1 for the treatments as shown in Table 1 . Uncertain parameters in biosolids have been reported, such as organic matter ( Simonin et al, 2021 ; Wu et al, 2017 ; Zhu et al, 2012 ) and soil colloid ( Campos et al, 2020 ; Philippe et al, 2018 ; Sun and Zhou, 2015 ). In order to avoid the discrepancy, agar media were used for the treatment and control groups and supplemented with growth medium ( Weigel and Glazebrook, 2002 ) (400 mL 1 × MS medium with 0.6% (g/g) agar powder).…”