When nano meets plants: A review on the interplay between nanoparticles and plants

The interplay between nanoparticles (NPs) and plants greatly promotes the development of research fields like nanotechnology, agriculture, food science, electrical engineering and biomedicine. On one hand, nanotechnology has been widely used in plant studies since NPs can act as growth regulators, pesticides, fertilizers, antimicrobial agents, biosensors, and plant mimics. On the other hand, plants can advance the development of nanotechnology including the preparation of NPs and plant-inspired nanobionics. An understanding of the diverse aspects of the interplay between NPs and plants is beneficial to make more achievements while currently there is still relatively little literature discussing this interplay. In this review, we provide a relatively comprehensive overview on the interplay between NPs and plants from two aspects: (1) how NPs serve for plants where NPs can act as growth regulators, pesticides, fertilizers, antimicrobial agents, targeted transporters, biosensors, and plant mimics; and (2) how plants advance the development of nanotechnology where plants can be used for the biosynthesis of NPs and inspire human to mimic nature. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Growthregulators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Nano-pesticides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Nano-fertilizers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Nano-antimicrobial agents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Targetedtransporters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Biosensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Carbon nanotube-based sensor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Graphene-based sensor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 QDs-based sensor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Automated summary

The interaction between nanoparticles and plants significantly advances research fields such as nanotechnology, agriculture, food science, electrical engineering, and biomedicine. Nanoparticles can serve as growth regulators, pesticides, fertilizers, antimicrobial agents, biosensors, and plant mimics in plant studies. Plants, on the other hand, contribute to the development of nanotechnology by inspiring the preparation of nanoparticles and plant-inspired nanobionics.