Unveiling Novel Insights for Sustainable Agriculture

Unveil the synergy between sustainable agriculture and materials science – Integrating innovative materials for eco-friendly agricultural practices.

Modern societies are struggling with various challenges. These challenges mainly have anthropogenic origins. Agriculture production is facing diverse challenges. The first concerns the massive use of pesticides besides their good outputs, present environment, and constraints. Furthermore, for plant nutrition, the use of synthetic fertilizers has become another source of environmental constraints. For these reasons, the search for smart solutions to maintain high productivity and ecological benefits has been researched. In 2004, carbon dots, a fluorescent carbon-based material, were characterized for the first time. After twenty years of research on these materials, diverse applications were pinpointed, including agricultural applications. These applications include photosynthetic intensification and the detection of pesticides, among others. However, these materials’ real and field applications are still challenging. More recently, a confined synthesis of carbon dots in synthetic layered hydroxides has been reported, and the results are optimistic and open a great effort to apply these materials in real conditions. However, the confined synthesis of carbon dots in layered hydroxides still uses synthetic feedstock.

For these reasons, the present project proposes a novel strategy to produce carbon dots in confined systems using natural feedstocks for agricultural applications. The agricultural applications include photosynthetic intensification, mycotoxins removal, and pest controls. From these new approaches, the project seeks to contribute with fundamental knowledge and provide eco-friendly products for agricultural applications.

Skills for Project