| dc.description.abstract | In recent years, nanoparticles have emerged as an intriguing tool in the field of agriculture, showing capabilities to increase performance and efficiency in several areas throughout the process of crop production. For many applications, their beneficial abilities depend on their resistance to detachment. However, this quality can have detrimental effects to human health once produce has left the farm. Therefore, it is important to accurately quantify attachment and detachment, as well as provide insight into what factors influence these qualities. Nanoparticles of different structure and concentration were applied to organic surfaces in 5 µL drops. A rinsing procedure was then developed to simulate a process by which produce is washed before consumption. Samples were then imaged with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) using both backscatter and secondary electron modes. Using the SEM’s backscatter electron detection, an image thresholding program was developed. Images were broken into pixels and segmented by brightness intensity. A threshold was then calculated from the derivative of reverse-cumulative brightness intensity frequency, from which pixels were binned into nanoparticles and non-nanoparticles. Images were taken of both rinsed and unrinsed surfaces, allowing a visual comparison and computerized quantification of detachment rates. At higher nanoparticle concentrations, significant detachment took place for nanoparticles studied. No decrease in particle frequency could be observed at the low end of concentrations. Addition of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) as well as variations in pH had no observed significant effect on detachment. | en_US |
