{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T17:13:53Z","timestamp":1786122833521,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"American Chemical Society (ACS)","issue":"31","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000199","name":"U.S. Department of Agriculture","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NIFA 2023-67021-39521"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIFA 2023-67021-39521"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000199","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/na","name":"Agritech National Research Center","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["European Union NextGenerationEU (project funded un"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["European Union NextGenerationEU (project funded un"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/na","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/na","name":"Italian Ministry of Education","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PNRR (Piano Nazionale Rinascita e Resilienza) Miss"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PNRR (Piano Nazionale Rinascita e Resilienza) Miss"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/na","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Conventional fertilizers are associated with substantial nutrient losses and environmental impacts, highlighting the need for more sustainable fertilization strategies. Here, we report the synthesis of potassium-doped amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles functionalized with urea (KACP-U) as a controlled-release nitrogen\u2013phosphorus\u2013potassium (NPK) nanofertilizer. Structural and compositional analyses confirmed the amorphous nature of the calcium phosphate matrix, effective potassium incorporation, and successful urea loading. Soil column leaching experiments under severe simulated rainfall conditions demonstrated that KACP-U significantly mitigates nutrient losses, with sustained urea release and a marked reduction of phosphorus, calcium, and potassium leaching by more than 1 order of magnitude compared with conventional fertilizers. Greenhouse experiments with corn (Zea mays) provided evidence that the controlled-release behavior of KACP-U observed in the leaching experiments was maintained under greenhouse conditions. KACP-U reduced phosphorus and calcium leaching by approximately 35% and urea (an N-containing compound) leaching by approximately 75%, with respect to a physical mixture of monocalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, and urea. At the same time, shoot biomass remained comparable to the control, while root biomass significantly increased by more than 47%. Notably, soil pH remained close to that of untreated soil, indicating a potentially lower risk of soil acidification compared with conventional nitrogen fertilizer. Results also indicate increased Ca and Mg accumulation in roots, by approximately 35 and 90%, respectively, compared with conventional fertilizer. This study underscores the potential of amorphous calcium phosphate\u2013based nanofertilizers as a sustainable alternative to conventional NPK formulations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1021\/acsanm.6c02420","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T13:59:05Z","timestamp":1784815145000},"page":"14926-14937","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Potassium-Doped Amorphous\nCalcium Phosphate Nanoparticles\nFunctionalized with Urea as a Sustainable Controlled-Release NPK Fertilizer"],"prefix":"10.1021","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Salem","family":"Ghribi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council (CNR) , , , ,","place":["Faenza, Ravenna, Italy, 48018"]},{"name":"University of Parma , , ,","place":["Parma, Italy, 43124"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6596-560X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Degli Esposti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universita\u0300 Degli Studi di Genova , , ,","place":["Genova, Italy, 16146"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Blaire","family":"Steven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station , , ,","place":["New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2721-7691","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nubia","family":"Zuverza-Mena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station , , ,","place":["New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station , , ,","place":["New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5001-8143","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jason C.","family":"White","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station , , ,","place":["New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8934-3832","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Deb P.","family":"Jaisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Delaware , , , ,","place":["Newark, Delaware, United States, 19716"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessio","family":"Adamiano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council (CNR) , , ,","place":["Bologna, Italy, 40129"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7813-8347","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michele","family":"Iafisco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council (CNR) , , ,","place":["Bologna, Italy, 40129"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"316","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026080708070791200_cit1","unstructured":"United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.\n          \n          Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable\nDevelopment. 2025. https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/2030agenda (accessed 04 April 2025)."},{"issue":"6898","key":"2026080708070791200_cit2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"671","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01014","article-title":"Agricultural\nSustainability and Intensive Production Practices","volume":"418","author":"Tilman","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"17","key":"2026080708070791200_cit3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8035","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0913658107","article-title":"A High-Resolution\nAssessment on Global Nitrogen Flows\nin Cropland","volume":"107","author":"Liu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc. 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Pollut."},{"issue":"5934","key":"2026080708070791200_cit5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1519","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1170261","article-title":"Nutrient Imbalances\nin Agricultural Development","volume":"324","author":"Vitousek","year":"2009","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2026080708070791200_cit6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1121073","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2023.1121073","article-title":"Nitrogen use efficiency\u2500a key to enhance crop\nproductivity under a changing climate","volume":"14","author":"Govindasamy","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front.\nPlant Sci."},{"issue":"4","key":"2026080708070791200_cit7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1670","DOI":"10.2134\/agronj2016.08.0483","article-title":"World Phosphorus Use Efficiency in\nCereal Crops","volume":"109","author":"Dhillon","year":"2017","journal-title":"Agron. 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Total Environ."},{"issue":"15","key":"2026080708070791200_cit14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2709","DOI":"10.3390\/nano12152709","article-title":"Nanosized Calcium Phosphates as Novel\nMacronutrient Nano-Fertilizers","volume":"12","author":"Carmona","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nanomaterials"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026080708070791200_cit15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12396","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-69279-2","article-title":"The Role of Nanoparticle Structure and Morphology in\nthe Dissolution Kinetics and Nutrient Release of Nitrate-Doped Calcium\nPhosphate Nanofertilizers","volume":"10","author":"Carmona","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. 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Pharm."},{"issue":"18","key":"2026080708070791200_cit25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3170","DOI":"10.1039\/C6CE00521G","article-title":"Crystallization\nof Citrate-Stabilized Amorphous Calcium Phosphate to Nanocrystalline\nApatite: A Surface-Mediated Transformation","volume":"18","author":"Chatzipanagis","year":"2016","journal-title":"CrystEngComm"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026080708070791200_cit26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17016","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-35258-x","article-title":"Fluoride-Doped\nAmorphous Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles as a Promising Biomimetic\nMaterial for Dental Remineralization","volume":"8","author":"Iafisco","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. 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Bull."},{"key":"2026080708070791200_cit29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/9780470405840","volume-title":"Infrared and Raman Spectra\nof Inorganic and Coordination Compounds: Part A: Theory and Applications\nin Inorganic Chemistry","author":"Nakamoto","year":"2008","edition":"6th"},{"issue":"39","key":"2026080708070791200_cit30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24514","DOI":"10.1039\/D2CP02352K","article-title":"An in Situ Study of Thermal Crystallization of Amorphous\nCalcium Phosphates","volume":"24","author":"Degli Esposti","year":"2022","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys."},{"issue":"25","key":"2026080708070791200_cit31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4621","DOI":"10.1021\/jp984180z","article-title":"Vibrational\nAnalysis of Urea","volume":"103","author":"Keuleers","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. 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