Nano light conversion agents: recent advances, future prospects and challenges in enhancing plant green cultivation

Plants constitute the foundation of sustainable environmental systems and human health. However, the limitations of solar radiation and the increased challenges of plant cultivation pose a threat to the environment and human health. In the past years, artificial lighting sources have been a hot topic in many fields, especially in plant cultivation owing to their controlled nature of the conditions. However, traditional artificial lighting sources suffer from unstable light quality, high energy consumption, and a short lifespan, which hinders their widespread use in agricultural farming. In contrast, light conversion technologies offer unparalleled advantages such as high conversion efficiency, stronger light harvesting, good photostability, and superior biocompatibility. With the flourishing development of nanotechnology, nano light conversion agents have been demonstrated to be alternative tools to traditional artificial light sources. Therefore, light conversion agents-guided plant cultivation is a promising strategy in the development of sustainable systems. This review introduces the mechanism and classification of nano light conversion agents and summarises recent advances in the applications of light conversion agents for plant cultivation. The prospects and challenges of light conversion agents are also discussed in the current review.