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In the past few decades, nanotechnology has helped meet the growing demand for food, water, medicine, energy, and other basic commodities. This is possible due to the application of nanoparticles with many unique characteristics, such as morphology (shape and size) and physical, chemical, magnetic, thermal and optical properties. Recently, scientists have used nanoparticles to develop the next generation of light-emitting plants.
Photo Credit: lovelyday12/Shutterstock.com
Inserting nanomaterials into plant leaves has several advantages, such as enhanced light emission and monitoring of analytes absorbed by the roots. The scientists also used nanoparticles to convert living watercress plants into chemiluminescent lamps, which can produce light with an average intensity of 1010 photons/sec. Some transgenic plants can emit light by inserting bioluminescence genes, the six genes of the Lux operon, or the firefly enzyme luciferase.
Scientists often use living plants to make functional devices to replace or reduce the use of plastic in circuit boards, which will eventually be treated as waste. Plant leaves have optical properties for their physiological functions, including photosynthesis.
Some examples of plants as devices include the use of plant leaves as sensors to detect plant mechanical wounds, plant adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-driven genetically encoded self-luminous light sources, and the creation of biocompatible plant electronic semiconductors and electrochromic pixels. In the past, scientists used plant cells and carbon nanotube composite materials to develop electronic temperature sensors. In addition, DNA-encapsulated carbon nanotubes have been used to transform spinach plants into groundwater monitoring sensors.
A team of MIT engineers created a light-emitting plant that can be charged by light-emitting diodes (LEDs). What's interesting is that after only charging for ten seconds, the plant will glow for a few minutes, and it can be charged repeatedly. These nano-biomimetic plants are called next-generation light-emitting plants because they are ten times brighter than the first-generation plants reported in 2017.
Michael Strano, a Carbon P. Dubbs professor of chemical engineering at MIT and a member of the research team developing the next generation of luminous plants, said that this creation is a big step towards light-based lighting. The researchers participating in this study said that the use of renewable chemical energy to create ambient light is a bold step towards sustainable lighting.
Their research was published in "Science Progress".
Strano's laboratory has been dedicated to plant nano-biomimicry for many years. The team developed the first generation of light-emitting plants using nanoparticles carrying luciferase and luciferin. These nanoparticles enable the watercress plant to emit dim light, which is about one-thousandth of the amount of light required for reading, for several hours.
The main focus of developing next-generation luminous plants is to emit brighter light over a longer period of time. Subsequently, the team envisioned the use of a capacitor that can store electricity and release it when needed. Plants can store light in the form of photons, which can be released over time.
To develop a photoelectric capacitor, researchers used phosphors that can absorb visible or ultraviolet light, and then slowly release it as phosphorescence. In this study, the researchers used strontium aluminate (SA) nanoparticles as photocapacitors, which function like phosphors. The nanoparticles are coated with silica to protect plants from damage.
Video source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/YouTube.com
In the search for alternative light sources, scientists envisioned using plant spongy mesophyll cells as photonic substrates to specifically enhance plant-based photonics and light emission.
Spongy mesophyll cells are a kind of parenchyma cells that exchange gas and liquid through most of the stomata on the leaf surface. Researchers use nanoparticles introduced into mesophyll cells to change their natural ability to absorb, store, and re-emit incident light, thereby being able to introduce functional optics into living plants (mesophyll cells).
Scientists report that tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), daisy (Bellis perennis), basil (Ocimum basilicum), elephant ear (Colocasia) and watercress (Nasturtium officinale) and other plants can be transformed into plant-based photonic devices by injecting SA through stomata. Nano-particles of one hundred nanometers are injected into the plant body through the stomata.
Injecting silica-coated SA nanoparticles into the mesophyll cells of plants will form a thin film that can absorb photons from sunlight and LEDs. Researchers report that ten seconds of blue LED exposure enables plants to glow for about an hour, with light emission of up to 4.8 × 1013 photons/sec. It was also observed that the light was brightest in the first five minutes and then gradually dimmed.
These newly developed light-emitting plants provide phosphorescent capacitance, light reflection, signal and light emission. Researchers predict that advances in plant nano-biomimetic technology can replace the current unsustainable urban power grids and help illuminate rural areas in a cost-effective way.
Read on: Synthesize ZnO nanocomposites using pomegranate.
Gordiichurk, P. etc. (2021) Enhancing the mesophyll of living plants into photonic capacitors. Scientific progress. 7(37). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe9733
Trafton, A. (2021) The next generation of luminous plants. [Online] Available at: https://news.mit.edu/2021/glowing-plants-nanoparticles-0917
Guo, YS et al. (2017) A nano bionic luminous plant. Nano letters. 17 (12). Pages 7951-7961. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04369
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Priyom has a PhD. Bachelor of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Madras, India. She is an active researcher and experienced science writer. Priyom has also co-authored several original research articles, which have been published in well-known peer-reviewed journals. She is also an avid reader and amateur photographer.
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