Recent Advances of Carbon Dots: Synthesis, Plants Applications, Prospects, and Challenges

Nanomaterials and nanotechnology have garnered significant attention in the realm of agricultural production. Carbon dots (CDs), as a class of nanomaterials, play a crucial role in the field of plant growth due to their excellent properties. This review aims to summarize recent achievements on CDs, focusing on their methods of preparation and applications in plants systems. The effects of CDs on seed germination, growth, photosynthesis, nutritional quality, and stress resistance were studied. It has been demonstrated that CDs can promote seed germination and growth, as well as improve photosynthetic efficiency, ultimately leading to increase plants yield. The nutritional quality of the plants treated with CDs was significantly improved. Specifically, the levels of essential mineral elements, vitamins, amino acids, and other constituents that are beneficial to human health increased notably. Additionally, CDs show positive effects on augmenting plant resistance against environmental stresses, such as drought conditions, heavy metal toxicity, and high salinity. Finally, the prospects and challenges of the application of CDs in plant systems are also discussed, which provide a scientific basis for the future application of CDs in agricultural production.