Summary
This comprehensive review examines carbon nanotubes and carbon quantum dots as emerging tools for sustainable agriculture, contrasting their structural properties, mechanisms of action, and applications in improving soil health and plant stress tolerance. The authors evaluate evidence on how CNTs function primarily as soil amendments and contaminant immobilisers, whilst CQDs regulate plant metabolism and antioxidant defence, and discuss synthesis strategies, phytotoxicity risks, and opportunities for synergistic composite systems. The review identifies key knowledge gaps including long-term field validation, multi-omics characterisation, and machine learning-assisted design.
Regional applicability
The review is international in scope and does not report original research from any specific geography. Its findings on nanomaterial mechanisms and stress tolerance are potentially applicable to United Kingdom farming systems, particularly in addressing soil fertility and climate-related stress challenges, though field-scale validation under UK conditions remains absent and would be necessary before widespread adoption.
Key measures
Structural characteristics of CNTs and CQDs; environmental fate; plant uptake and physiological responses; stress mitigation mechanisms; reactive oxygen species scavenging; osmotic regulation; ion homeostasis; heavy metal immobilization; phytotoxicity and ecological risk; green synthesis approaches
Outcomes reported
The review synthesises evidence on how carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon quantum dots (CQDs) improve soil properties, facilitate nutrient delivery, and enhance plant stress tolerance to heavy metals, salinity, and drought. It evaluates their distinct mechanisms of action, transport pathways, phytotoxicity risks, and potential for composite applications in sustainable agriculture.
Topic tags
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