Chinese biologists invent new nanomaterial to enhance plant photosynthesis

BEIJING -- A Chinese research team has developed a carbon-based nanomaterial from agricultural waste biomass that can enhance plant photosynthesis and potentially boost crop growth.

According to their study recently published in Communications Materials, the researchers from Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University developed the carbon quantum dots, a carbon-based nanomaterial synthesized from agricultural waste biomass such as straw, leaves and weeds, Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday.

According to the study, the new material converts ultraviolet light, which plants cannot absorb, and green light, which they absorb inefficiently, into red light for more efficient absorption. It also excites electrons from absorbed photons to provide additional electrons for the photosynthetic electron transport chain, thus improving the photosynthesis efficiency.

The researchers put the material into the liquid culture medium of cyanobacteria or sprayed it on plants for experiment. The results show that the glycerol-producing cyanobacteria have a 2.4-fold increase in CO2 fixation rate and a 2.2-fold growth in glycerol production. Meanwhile, the biomass of Arabidopsis plant is increased by 1.8 times.

According to the study, the material not only improves photosynthetic efficiency and promotes plant growth but also offers the advantages of low cost and high biocompatibility, making it highly promising for future agricultural production and solar-powered biomanufacturing.

Preliminary experiments also show that the material can promote the growth of plants such as duckweed, peanuts, corn, and soybeans.

The research team plans to carry out further field experiments.