Optimizing spectral quality with quantum dots to enhance crop yield in controlled environments

Autor: Aaron S. Jackson, Karthik Ramasamy, Hunter McDaniel, Matthew R. Bergren, Charles H. Parrish, Damon Hebert, Gene A. Giacomelli
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Controlled-environment agriculture
Crops
Agricultural
Materials science
Light
QH301-705.5
Medicine (miscellaneous)
Biomass
Greenhouse
02 engineering and technology
Photosynthetic efficiency
Sulfides
010402 general chemistry
Photosynthesis
medicine.disease_cause
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Article
Quality (physics)
Quantum Dots
medicine
Light responses
Humans
Biology (General)
Solar Activity
business.industry
Crop yield
Electromagnetic Radiation
Lettuce
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
Environment
Controlled
Quality Improvement
0104 chemical sciences
Plant Leaves
Quantum dot
Zinc Compounds
Calibration
Optoelectronics
Action Spectrum
0210 nano-technology
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
business
Luminescence
Biofortification
Ultraviolet
Copper
Zdroj: Communications Biology
Communications Biology, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
ISSN: 2399-3642
Popis: Bioregenerative life-support systems (BLSS) involving plants will be required to realize self-sustaining human settlements beyond Earth. To improve plant productivity in BLSS, the quality of the solar spectrum can be modified by lightweight, luminescent films. CuInS2/ZnS quantum dot (QD) films were used to down-convert ultraviolet/blue photons to red emissions centered at 600 and 660 nm, resulting in increased biomass accumulation in red romaine lettuce. All plant growth parameters, except for spectral quality, were uniform across three production environments. Lettuce grown under the 600 and 660 nm-emitting QD films respectively increased edible dry mass (13 and 9%), edible fresh mass (11% each), and total leaf area (8 and 13%) compared with under a control film containing no QDs. Spectral modifications by the luminescent QD films improved photosynthetic efficiency in lettuce and could enhance productivity in greenhouses on Earth, or in space where, further conversion is expected from greater availability of ultraviolet photons.
Parrish et al. demonstrate the modification of an incoming solar spectrum through downconversion of high energy UV/blue photons into orange/red photons using luminescent quantum dot films, leading to improved growth of leaf vegetables. Such technology can improve greenhouse productivity while reducing energy costs and can be useful to realize self-sustaining human settlements beyond Earth.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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