Field application of Ca-doped ZnO nanoparticles to maize and wheat plants.

Nanoparticles play a vital role in modern agriculture to provide the nutrients required by plants. Herein, we report the preparation of calcium-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (CZO NPs) via a simple and cost-effective co-precipitation method, with the aim of realizing increased fertilizer response. The synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed to study their physicochemical properties using various characterization techniques. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed a small shift in peak position towards higher values of 2θ and reduced crystal size after the zinc oxide (ZnO) matrix had been doped with Ca. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy images clearly revealed a grain-like surface morphology. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study produced evidence of Zn ²⁺ substitution by Ca ²⁺ and enhanced Zn-O bond strengths in the CZO samples. Two major crops, maize (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were selected to study the impact of the CZO NP-based nanofertilizer on plant growth. During the study, the effect of the CZO-based fertilizer on growth parameters such as seed germination, root and shoot length, plant height, root and stem width, number of leaves, and leaf size was studied based on comparisons with control plants. We observed significantly increased plant growth parameters after the application of the CZO NP-based fertilizers.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: S. A. Vanalakar reports financial support was provided by Shivaji University. Jaewoong Lee reports financial support was provided by Korea Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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