Developing novel materials to improve the global food supply is vital to combat hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture. To address this issue, we employed red-emitting Ag-In-S-Zn (AISZ) quaternary quantum dots as light converters to fabricate AISZ QDs-loaded ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers (AISZ/EVA) films to improve the light conditions for crop growth. The synthesis of AISZ QDs was optimized to achieve a high quantum yield (73%) and an emission band matching the absorption window of chlorophyll a and b. Using EVA resin as the matrix, efficient ultraviolet-to-red light-converting AISZ/EVA films with varying AISZ content were prepared by the solvent evaporation method. The fluorescence and transmittance of these light-conversion films along with a blank EVA control were characterized. Subsequent 28-day lettuce cultivation under controlled light illumination revealed that the 1.0 wt% AISZ/EVA film induced maximal growth enhancement. The fresh weight and dry weight were increased by 28.2% and 34.4% respectively, while the contents of total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, soluble sugars and proteins were increased by 48.8%, 51.3%, 43.8%, 40.8%, 33.6%, and 37.2%, respectively. The results demonstrate that broad-emitting AISZ QDs served as efficient light converters to fabricate agricultural light-conversion films, highlighting their broad application prospects and promising commercial potential in controlled environment agriculture.
Sheng et al. (Fri,) studied this question.