Titanium dioxide nanoparticles study on Lactuca sativa growth with cocopeat and sponge hydroponic systems

Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (\({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs) are believed can enhance crop yield by accelerating the photosynthetic rate, infection control management, and competent catalyst for the decomposition of organic pollutants. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (\({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs) on L. sativa, lettuce growth in a hydroponic system using two different media: sponge and cocopeat. Hydroponic systems with optimum treatment factors, such as air temperature, humidity, light, pH of nutrient solution, and electrical conductivity (EC), were applied in this study to attain elevated yields within a short period of time. The results show that L. sativa without \({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs treatment produces an optimum growth pattern in terms of biomass, including fresh weight, dry weight, and height, with p < 0.05, especially when using cocopeat medium. Detailed observation found that \({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs treatment showed no significant difference between the leaf count and diameter on L. sativa. This study found that \({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs could act as an efficient organic catalyst for maintaining hydroponic nutrient quality. However, further findings indicate that \({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs could interfere with the nutrient absorption process from the roots, which might lead to off-color foliage, and plant stress. Further research is recommended to study the implication of \({\text{TiO}}_{2}\)-NPs on growth, nutrient absorption, and organic catalyst potential that is beneficial for plant growth.