Iron pyrite, a potential photovoltaic material, increases plant biomass upon seed pretreatment
Iron pyrite (FeS2) is a promising material with plethora of applications ranging from sulfuric acid production to photo-voltaic devices. Interestingly, the proponents of the theory of hydrothermal origin of life on earth argues that FeS2 may have evolved 4.0 billion
years ago, and used as an energy source by the earliest evolving life forms on earth. In the present time, bacteria like Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, which survives in the oxygen deficient environments, derives energy solely from FeS2 to maintain its critical biomass. The key
question, we addressed in this paper is 'whether higher plants have the ability to derive energy solely from FeS2, just like the way Thiobacillus species does.' To answer this question, we developed a novel, inexpensive, low temperature scheme (< 100 °C) for
FeS2 synthesis. We characterize FeS2 using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques. Further, we pretreated the chick-pea (Legume) seeds for 12 hours in sterile, double distilled
aqueous medium of dispersed FeS2 (80 μg/ml). Following this, we allowed these seeds to grow in sterile, double distilled water for 7 days. At this stage, we observed that FeS2 pre-treated seeds result in significantly healthier plants, with increased dryweight
and enhanced sulfur content as compared to the control plants. In summary, a brief FeS2 pre-treatment of the seeds resulted in increased plant biomass. This study has drawn an evolutionary consilience between two diverse life forms in terms of their ability to use a common pre-biotic
energy molecule for biomass production. Our results suggest that FeS2 apart from its opto-electronic potential, could also be used as a pro-fertilizer for sustainable agriculture practices.
Keywords: BIOMASS; CHICK-PEA; IRON PYRITE; LEGUME; PHOTO-VOLTAIC; SEED PRE-TREATMENT; SULFUR
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 February 2014
- Materials Express is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal reporting emerging researches on materials science, engineering, technology and biology. Cutting-edge researches on the synthesis, characterization, properties, and applications of a very wide range of materials are covered for broad readership; from physical sciences to life sciences. In particular, the journal aims to report advanced materials with interesting electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical and catalytic properties for industrial applications.
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content