25th-28th June, 2018: Mössbauer Spectroscopy in Materials Science 2018, Prague, Czech Republic

[Z. Klencsar]

The conference "Mössbauer Spectroscopy in Materials Science 2018" (MSMS 2018) was held during the days June 25-28, 2018, in Prague, Czech Republic. On the conference Zoltán Klencsár presented a talk about the characterization of several different nanoparticle systems considered for plant nutrition. The work was summarized in an abstract as given below.

Characterization of nanoparticle systems considered for plant nutrition

Z. Klencsár 1, V.K. Kis 1, S. Stichleutner 1, L.K. Varga 2, A. Ábrahám 3, E.Gy. Szabó 4, L. Szabó 4,
J. Mantilla 5, J.A.H. Coaquira 5, V.K. Garg 5, A.C. de Oliveira 5, A. Lengyel 2, E. Kuzmann 6,
K. Kovács 6, R. Szalay 6, Z. Homonnay 6, Gy. Tolnai 7

1 Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
2 Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
3 Centre for Colloid Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics Budapest, Budafoki út 6-8, Hungary
4 Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1117 Hungary
5 Institute of Physics, University of Brasilia, 70919 - 970 Brasília, DF, Brazil
6 Institute of Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
7 Kondorosi út 8/A., 1116 Budapest, Hungary

* The corresponding author e-mail: klencsar.zoltan@energia.mta.hu

Keywords: nanoparticles, magnetic properties, electron magnetic resonance

Unfavorable soil quality conditions, such as high soil pH, can lead to micronutrient deficiencies in plants, resulting in diminished quantity and quality of plant biomass [1]. In particular, constraints related to micronutrients such as Fe, Mn and Zn are considered as nutritional problems for plants grown on calcareous and alkaline soils. As plants are a major iron source in human nutrition, their iron deficiency can contribute to nutritional challenges of the human population as well [2]. As a possible way to alleviate shortage of availability of micronutrients to plants, application of nanoparticle-based fertilizers may be considered as a viable and possibly superior alternative to traditionally applied chemicals. In the present work we report about the characterization of several different iron-containing nanoparticle systems considered for this purpose, and demonstrate how the complementary application of experimental characterization methods such as 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, magnetization measurements and electron magnetic resonance spectroscopy can contribute to the exploration of their relevant material properties. In particular, nanoparticle systems based on (Mn,Zn)-ferrite, ferric-oxide-hydroxide / hematite and magnetite / maghemite will be considered.

References
[1] J. Abadía, S. Vázquez, R. Rellán-Álvarez, H. El-Jendoubi, A. Abadía, A. Álvarez-Fernández, A.F. López-Millán, Plant. Phys. Biochem., 49, 471-482 (2011)
[2] J. Jeong, M.L. Guerinot, Trends in Plant Science, 14, 280-285 (2009)

Acknowledgments
Financial support from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office - NKFIH/OTKA (K115913 and K115784) and from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (Project no. A127/2013) is gratefully acknowledged. V.K.K. was supported by the János Bolyai Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Z.K. expresses thanks to Prof. Ferenc Simon (Institute of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary) for making available the applied spectrometer for recording the EPR spectra.