Functional carbon nanodots improve soil quality and tomato tolerance in saline-alkali soils

Qiong Chen; Xiufeng Cao; Yuanyuan Li; Qing Sun; Linna Dai; Jianwei Li; Zhijiang Guo; Lin Zhang; Lijie Ci

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154817

Functional carbon nanodots improve soil quality and tomato tolerance in saline-alkali soils

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jul 15:830:154817. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154817. Epub 2022 Mar 25.

Authors

Qiong Chen¹, Xiufeng Cao², Yuanyuan Li¹, Qing Sun³, Linna Dai³, Jianwei Li³, Zhijiang Guo⁴, Lin Zhang³, Lijie Ci⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, PR China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, PR China. Electronic address: caoxiufeng@email.sdu.edu.cn.
³ Research Center for Carbon Nanomaterials, Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution & Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, PR China; Research Center for Carbon Nanomaterials, Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution & Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, PR China. Electronic address: cilijie@hit.edu.cn.

PMID: 35341861
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154817

Abstract

High salinity and alkalinity of saline-alkali soil lead to soil deterioration, the subsequent osmotic stress and ion toxicity inhibited crops growth and productivity. In this research, 8 mg kg^-1 and 16 mg kg^-1 functional carbon nanodots (FCNs) can alleviate the adverse effects of saline-alkali on tomato plant at both seedling and harvest stages, thanks to their up-regulation effects on soil properties and plant physiological processes. On one hand, FCNs stimulate the plant potential of tolerance to saline-alkali and disease resistance through triggering the defense response of antioxidant system, enhancing the osmotic adjustment, promoting the nutrient uptake, transportation and utilization, and up-regulating the photosynthesis, thereby improve tomato growth and productivity in saline-alkali soils. On the other hand, FCNs application contributes to the improvement of soil physicochemical properties and fertilities, as well as decline soil salinity and alkalinity, which are related to plant growth and fruit quality. This research also focuses on the dose-dependent effects of FCNs on their regulation effects and toxicity to tomato growth under stress or non-stress. These findings recommend that FCNs could be applied as potential amendments to ameliorate the saline-alkali soil and improve the tomato tolerance and productivity in the Yellow River Delta.

Keywords: Functional carbon nanodots; Saline-alkali soil; Soil fertility; Soil physicochemical property; Tomato tolerance.

MeSH terms

Alkalies
Carbon
Nanotubes
Salinity
Soil* / chemistry
Solanum lycopersicum*

Substances

Alkalies
Soil
Carbon