TY - JOUR
T1 - Impacts of graphitic nanofertilizers on nitrogen cycling in a sandy, agricultural soil
AU - Das, Partho
AU - Davis, Kelsie
AU - Penton, C. Ryan
AU - Westerhoff, Paul
AU - Bi, Yuqiang
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported by AFRI A1511 Nanotechnology for Agriculture and Food Systems [grant no. 2020–67021-31377] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Funding Information:
The authors appreciate the technical assistance of Dr. Yuanming Guo and Dr. Paul Dahlen in instrumental analysis at Arizona State University. The authors would also like to acknowledge Dr. Guixue Song at Shandong University and Mingdong Zhang at SinoPhene Novel Materials for providing GNA and GO materials for this study. Finally, the authors gratefully acknowledge the use of facilities within the Eyring Materials Center at Arizona State University in part by NNCI-ECCS-1542160.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Graphene nanofertilizers have demonstrated immense potential in improving agricultural productivity and nitrogen management. However, how those nanomaterials interact with soil microbial communities related to N cycle remain unclear. The present study assessed the impact of four different graphitic nanomaterials (i.e., GO, graphene oxide; rGO, reduced graphene oxide; GNP, graphene nanoplatelet; GNA, graphite nanoadditive) and biochar at two different doses (5 and 1000 mg kg−1 soil) on soil respiration, nitrification potential, and microbial N cycling functional genes over 28 days of incubation of sandy agricultural soil. Basal respiration indicated a transient increase of microbial activity with all treatments, while substrate induced respiration (SIR) revealed an enhancement of microbial respiration rate with some treatments that sustained at the end of the incubation. No significant differences in the maximum nitrification potential were observed when treated with GNMs or biochar. However, decreased abundances of amoA genes and increased abundance of denitrifying genes (nirK, nirS, nosZ) in all treated soils suggested a decreased potential for nitrification and boosted denitrification after 28-day exposure. In addition, GNMs showed minimum impact on nifH population in this incubation study. Together, the results suggest that graphitic nanomaterials might suppress nitrification and potentially reduce losses by nitrate leaching in agricultural soils. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
AB - Graphene nanofertilizers have demonstrated immense potential in improving agricultural productivity and nitrogen management. However, how those nanomaterials interact with soil microbial communities related to N cycle remain unclear. The present study assessed the impact of four different graphitic nanomaterials (i.e., GO, graphene oxide; rGO, reduced graphene oxide; GNP, graphene nanoplatelet; GNA, graphite nanoadditive) and biochar at two different doses (5 and 1000 mg kg−1 soil) on soil respiration, nitrification potential, and microbial N cycling functional genes over 28 days of incubation of sandy agricultural soil. Basal respiration indicated a transient increase of microbial activity with all treatments, while substrate induced respiration (SIR) revealed an enhancement of microbial respiration rate with some treatments that sustained at the end of the incubation. No significant differences in the maximum nitrification potential were observed when treated with GNMs or biochar. However, decreased abundances of amoA genes and increased abundance of denitrifying genes (nirK, nirS, nosZ) in all treated soils suggested a decreased potential for nitrification and boosted denitrification after 28-day exposure. In addition, GNMs showed minimum impact on nifH population in this incubation study. Together, the results suggest that graphitic nanomaterials might suppress nitrification and potentially reduce losses by nitrate leaching in agricultural soils. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
KW - Graphitic nanomaterials
KW - Nanofertilizer
KW - Nitrate leaching
KW - Nitrogen cycle
KW - Soil respiration
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U2 - 10.1007/s11051-022-05500-9
DO - 10.1007/s11051-022-05500-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131764505
SN - 1388-0764
VL - 24
JO - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
JF - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
IS - 6
M1 - 120
ER -