Gold Nanocomposites for Improved Plant-Soil System and Underlying Mechanism

Nanotechnology has become a driving force in numerous industrial and technological fields to improve their efficiency and productivity. Gold nanomaterials (Au NMs) are one such category of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) that have been extensively utilized due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The incorporation of Au NPs into agricultural operations holds a promise for sustainable and efficient crop production as nanotechnology continues to change modern agriculture. Gold NPs, owing to their unique physicochemical properties, have shown great potential in plant and soil health conditioning. Recently, nanocomposites composed of Au NPs have been shown to improve plant and soil systems. Monitoring plant health, plant disease management, plant stress tolerance, plant growth promotion, and seed germination have been reported as some of the promising applications under different platforms. Hence, this book chapter elaborates on the application of gold nanocomposites in improved plant-soil systems.