Advances in Nanotechnology as a Potential Alternative for Plant Viral Disease Management.

Plant viruses cause enormous losses in agricultural production accounting for about 47% of the total overall crop losses caused by plant pathogens. More than 50% of the emerging plant diseases are reported to be caused by viruses, which are inevitable or unmanageable. Therefore, it is essential to devise novel and effective management strategies to combat the losses caused by the plant virus in economically important crops.

Effect of size and surface chemistry of gold nanoparticles on their retention in a sediment-water system and .

With the increased production, usage, and disposal of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), there is growing concern over the fate of ENPs in the environment, their potential bioavailability and ecotoxicity. It is assumed that bioavailability and uptake into organisms depend on the environmental conditions as well as the physicochemical properties of ENPs, such as particle size or surface coating. A major sink for nanoparticles is expected to be sediments due to sorption and agglomeration processes.

A uniform measurement expression for cross method comparison of nanoparticle aggregate size distributions.

Available measurement methods for nanomaterials are based on very different measurement principles and hence produce different values when used on aggregated nanoparticle dispersions. This paper provides a solution for relating measurements of nanomaterials comprised of nanoparticle aggregates determined by different techniques using a uniform expression of a mass equivalent diameter (MED). The obtained solution is used to transform into MED the size distributions of the same sample of synthetic amorphous silica (nanomaterial comprising aggregated nanoparticles) measured by six different techniques: scanning electron microscopy in both high vacuum (SEM) and liquid cell setup (Wet-SEM); gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analyzer (GEMMA); centrifugal liquid sedimentation (CLS); nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA); and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection (AF4-ICP-MS).

Uncertainties of size measurements in electron microscopy characterization of nanomaterials in foods.

Electron microscopy is a recognized standard tool for nanomaterial characterization, and recommended by the European Food Safety Authority for the size measurement of nanomaterials in food. Despite this, little data have been published assessing the reliability of the method, especially for size measurement of nanomaterials characterized by a broad size distribution and/or added to food matrices. This study is a thorough investigation of the measurement uncertainty when applying electron microscopy for size measurement of engineered nanomaterials in foods.

Production of reference materials for the detection and size determination of silica nanoparticles in tomato soup.

A set of four reference materials for the detection and quantification of silica nanoparticles (NPs) in food was produced as a proof of principle exercise. Neat silica suspensions were ampouled, tested for homogeneity and stability, and characterized for total silica content as well as particle diameter by dynamic light scattering (DLS), electron microscopy (EM), gas-phase electrophoretic molecular mobility analysis (GEMMA), and field-flow fractionation coupled with an inductively coupled mass spectrometer (FFF-ICPMS). Tomato soup was prepared from ingredients free of engineered nanoparticles and was spiked at two concentration levels with the silica NP suspension.