Nanosized Calcium Phosphates as Novel Macronutrient Nano-Fertilizers

Abstract

The need for qualitatively and quantitatively enhanced food production, necessary for feeding a progressively increasing World population, requires the adoption of new and sustainable agricultural protocols. Among them, limiting the waste of fertilizers in the environment has become a global target. Nanotechnology can offer the possibility of designing and preparing novel materials alternative to conventional fertilizers, which are more readily absorbed by plant roots and, therefore, enhance nutrient use efficiency. In this context, during the last decade, great attention has been paid to calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaP), particularly nanocrystalline apatite and amorphous calcium phosphate, as potential macronutrient nano-fertilizers with superior nutrient-use efficiency to their conventional counterparts. Their inherent content in macronutrients, like phosphorus, and gradual solubility in water have been exploited for their use as slow P-nano-fertilizers. Likewise, their large (specific) surfaces, due to their nanometric size, have been functionalized with additional macronutrient-containing species, like urea or nitrate, to generate N-nano-fertilizers with more advantageous nitrogen-releasing profiles. In this regard, several studies report encouraging results on the superior nutrient use efficiency showed by CaP nano-fertilizers in several crops than their conventional counterparts. Based on this, the advances of this topic are reviewed here and critically discussed, with special emphasis on the preparation and characterization approaches employed to synthesize/functionalize the engineered nanoparticles, as well as on their fertilization properties in different crops and in different (soil, foliar, fertigation and hydroponic) conditions. In addition, the remaining challenges in progress toward the real application of CaP as nano-fertilizers, involving several fields (i.e., agronomic or material science sectors), are identified and discussed.

Multifunctional Nanomaterials for Biofortification and Protection of Tomato Plants

“…3 This along with the pH-dependent solubility, which allows a controlled release of the ionic constituents at slightly acidic pHs, makes these inorganic nanoparticles the ideal nanoplatform for the efficient nutrient fortification. 12,13 The engineering of these materials can provide them with a wider degree of applicability and functionalities. CaP-NPs have high capacity to host foreign ions and/or adsorb active molecules to a high extent on the highly reactive surface.…”

The strategic applications of natural polymer nanocomposites in food packaging and agriculture: Chances, challenges, and consumers’ perception

“…Among the most common nanofertilizers applied are urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, sulfuret, calcium nitrate, calcium phosphate, mono and diammonium phosphate, triple superphosphate, potash, silicon, zeolite, zinc, and so on ( Rameshaiah et al, 2015 ; Rajonee et al, 2017 ; Alimohammadi et al, 2020 ; Carmona et al, 2022 ).…”

Nanomaterials in plant management: functions, mechanisms and prospects

“…19 For instance, use modified waterborne polymer-coated urea increased nitrogen use efficiency by 51.1% compare to normal urea, 20 and use NMs containing phosphorus, such as nanocrystalline apatite and amorphous calcium phosphate NPs can increase the use efficiency of phosphorus, both materials are intrinsically composed of macronutrients, namely calcium and phosphorus, which can be gradually delivered simultaneously with particle dissolution, limiting nutrient losses by soil fixation or run-off. 21 More interestingly, application of NMs composed of certain elements can synergistically improve uptake of other beneficial elements. For example, zinc is considered one of the most important micronutrients for plants and significantly contributes to a number of physiological processes.…”