09/28/2009 | Shooter

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24161/

Carbon Nanotubes Are Super Fertilizer
Source:MIT Technology Review
Author:Katherine Bourzac

Researchers at the University of Arkansas, United States, have found that tomato plants exposed to carbon nanotubes grow bigger and faster. Writing in the journal ACS Nano, the scientists suggest that these results, though preliminary, mean that carbon nanotubes could be a boon for the agriculture and biofuel industries, and lead to new types of fertilizers. They write: "[F]urthering these findings could result in significant developments of improved plants for the area of energy, by taking advantage of the enhancement in the biomass of the plants when they are exposed to nanosized materials and fertilizers." The carbon nanotubes, with their long, straw-like structures, appear to promote water uptake, as the seeds exposed to the nanotubes contained more moisture. While the research is promising, this article's author cautions that the use of "... carbon nanotubes as fertilizer could have unintended consequences. The effects of nanomaterials on the environment, and the ways they move through organisms and the food chain, aren't very well understood."