Seed treatment with iron pyrite (FeS₂) nanoparticles increases the production of spinach

Abstract

Certain nano-materials are known to have plant growth promoting effects, which could find applications in agriculture.

Increased Plant Growth with Hematite Nanoparticle Fertilizer Drop and Determining Nanoparticle Uptake in Plants Using Multimodal Approach

“…Previous studies involving iron NPs in the soil matrix after seed germination have reported a dosedependent relationship between the iron NP dosage and iron content within different parts of the plant [10,16,42]. However, when applied as only seed treatment, Srivastava et al found no significant difference in iron content in spinach plant leaves with a different iron pyrite (FeS 2 ) NP dosing [12,43]. Our study also confirms the absence of a significant dose-dependent iron content relationship when applying NPs in a "modified seed presoak" strategy.…”

“…Raju et al reported the role of Fe NPs in increasing the radical length and biomass of green gram sprouts during germination [11]. In the study by Srivastava et al, iron pyrite NPs induced a marked increase in the growth of spinach sprouts [12]. Iron pyrite NPs also facilitated a denser network of roots and a significantly (~2.5 times) higher yield in both chili and marigold plants [13].…”

Transition metal doped pyrite (FeS2) thin films: structural properties and evaluation of optical band gap energies

“…where n is a factor, which is almost equal to unity for minimum dislocation density. In this work, a typical calculation method has been applied using eqn (1), (6) and 7 32 The doping induces the lattice strain in M x Fe 1Àx S 2 thin films. The lattice parameter for the cubic doped films increases monotonically with doping and consequently induces microstrain in cubic structure of pyrite.…”

“…and (7). Lattice constant (a 0 = 0.5420 nm), microstrain (e 0 = 3.031 Â 10 À3 ) and dislocation density (d 0 = 1.075 Â 10 À3 nm À2 ) as calculated by using eqn (1), (6) and 7 (Fig. 3(c)) exhibits three peaks at 288, 324, and 361 cm À1 corresponding to characteristic active modes for oxidized pyrite that might be due to long exposure time for film under high energy laser beam for B1 min during spectrum capture.…”

“…1 The material is also relatively non-toxic compared with other semiconducting materials used in photovoltaic applications. Additionally, pyrite has also found numerous applications in optoelectronic devices, 2,3 energy conversion/storage devices, 4,5 agriculture, 6 biomedical applications 7 and extreme pressure additives in formulated oils. 8 Organohalide lead(II) perovskites such as methylammonium lead(II) iodide (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 ) 9 have also emerged as light-harvesting semiconductors for thin film solar cells along with copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), 10 copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) 11 and quantum dot sensitised solar cells such as those based on nanocrystalline cadmium selenide (CdSe).…”