Nanotechnology and Plant Sciences

Plants are very complex and intriguing systems. Despite their important role in our world, studying their properties at the subcellular level remains challenging.

Developing a better understanding of plant at the nanoscale is necessary to:

  • improve chemical treatments for biomass deconstruction and biofuel production
  • track the movement of nanoparticles in plant systems and their effect on plant tissues and functions
  • help design better nanotherapeutics for diseases for sustainable agriculture
  • predict the effect of treatments such as pesticides, nanotherapeutics or leached nanoparticles on our ecosystem

Over the years, our group has investigated the properties of different plant systems:

  • Poplar as a lignocellulosic biomass source for biofuel production
  • Citrus trees to evaluate the effect of zinc oxide (ZnO)-based nanotherapeutics against citrus canker and citrus greening
  • Tomato plant to evaluate the effect of copper-based nanotherapeutics against black disease

Our Team’s accomplishments

  • 2016-present: Organization of an annual conference for the Materials Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA)

  • 2015-present: Led and contributed to several interdisciplinary studies to understand processes related to plant sciences

Related publications

  • M. Soliman, B. Lee, A. Ozcan, T. B. Rawal, M. Young, H. C Mendis, P. Rajasekaran, T. Washington II, S. V. Pingali, H. O’Neill, A. Gesquiere, L. De La Fuente, L. Petridis, E. Johnson, J. Graham, S. Santra, L. Tetard, Engineered zinc oxide-based nanotherapeutics boost systemic antibacterial efficacy against phloem-restricted diseases, Environmental Science: Nano, 9(8), 2869-2886, 2022

  • A. Ozcan, M. Young, B. Lee, Y.-Y. Liao, S. Da Silva, D. Godden, J. Colee, Z. Huang, H. C. Mendis, M. G.N. Campos, J. B. Jones, J. H. Freeman, M. L. Paret, L. Tetard, S. Santra, Copper-fixed quat: a hybrid nanoparticle for application as a locally systemic pesticide (LSP) to manage bacterial spot disease of tomato, Nanoscale Advances, DOI: 10.1039/D0NA00917B, 2021

  • R. Coste, M. Soliman, N. B. Bercu, S. Potiron, K. Lasri, V. Aguié-Béghin, L. Tetard, B. Chabbert, M. Molinari, Unveiling the impact of embedding resins on the physicochemical traits of wood cell walls with subcellular functional probing, Composites Science and Technology, 201, 108485, 2020

  • T. B. Rawal, M. Dean Smith, Ali Ozcan, J. C. Smith, L. Tetard, S. Santra, L. Petridis, Role of Capping Agents in the Synthesis of Salicylate-Capped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 3(10), 9951–9960, 2020

  • R. Coste, M. Pernes, L. Tetard, M. Molinari, B. Chabbert, Effect of the interplay of composition and environmental humidity on the nanomechanical properties of hemp fibers, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 8(16), 6381-6390, 2020

  • B. Lee, N. Castaneda, M. Doomra, N. Modha, S. Santra, J. Thornton, T. Zhang, E. H. Kang, L. Tetard, Nanoscale quantification of longitudinal and transverse mechanics of bacterial bodies, Applied Physics Letters, 116(5), 2020

  • L. M. Kline, P. Voothuluru, S. C. Lenaghan, J. Burris, M. Soliman, L. Tetard, C. N. Stewart Jr, T. G Rials, N. Labbé, A robust method to quantify cell wall bound phenolics in plant suspension culture cells using Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 574016, 2020

  • A. S. Patri, B. Mostofian, Y. Pu, N. Ciaffone, M. Soliman, M. D. Smith, R. Kumar, X. Cheng, C. E. Wyman, L. Tetard, A. J. Ragauskas, J. C. Smith, L. Petridis, C. M. Cai, A multifunctional co-solvent pair reveals molecular principles of biomass deconstruction, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141, 32, 12545-12557, 2019

  • T. B. Rawal, A. Ozcan, S.-H. Liu, S.V. Pingali, O. Akbilgic, L. Tetard, H. O’Neill, S. Santra, L. Petridis, Interaction of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Water: Implications for Catalytic Activity, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2(7), 4257-4266, 2019

  • S.-H. Liu, T. B. Rawal, M. Soliman, B. Lee, T. Maxwell, P. Rajasekaran, H. C Mendis, N. Labbé, S. Santra, L. Tetard, L. Petridis, Antimicrobial Zn-Based “TSOL” for Citrus Greening Management: Insights from Spectroscopy and Molecular Simulation, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 67(25), 6970-6977, 2019

  • T. B. Rawal, A. Ozcan, S.-H. Liu, S.V. Pingali, O. Akbilgic, L. Tetard, H. O’Neill, S. Santra, L. Petridis, Interaction of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Water: Implications for Catalytic Activity, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2(7), 4257-4266, 2019

  • S.-H. Liu, T. B. Rawal, M. Soliman, B. Lee, T. Maxwell, P. Rajasekaran, H. C Mendis, N. Labbé, S. Santra, L. Tetard, L. Petridis, Antimicrobial Zn-Based “TSOL” for Citrus Greening Management: Insights from Spectroscopy and Molecular Simulation, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 67(25), 6970-6977, 2019

  • L. Tetard, A. Passian, R. H. Farahi, T. Thundat, B. H. Davison, Opto-nanomechanical spectroscopic material characterization, Nature Nanotechnology, 10, 870–877, 2015

  • S. Das, J. Tharkur, L. Tetard, S. Santra, Translocation of N-acetyl Cysteine Capped Fluorescent Quantum Dots in Plant Tissue: Confocal Imaging Studies, MRS Proceedings, 1754, mrsf14-1754-qq02-05, 2015

  • L. Tetard, A. Passian, S. Jung, A. J. Ragauskas, B. H. Davison, Development of new methods in scanning probe microscopy for lignocellulosic biomass characterization, Industrial Biotechnology, 8, 1, 2012