In recent years, there has been increasing interest across a variety of fields in carbon-based materials, for example, pest management through carbon-based nanotubes or water purification. While transgenic plants (developed either by transgenesis or plant-mediated RNAi) have been used as a method of pest control, the costly and time-consuming bio-safety regulations associated with transgenic plants and their acceptance by people have restricted their applications in the field, leading to the development of alternative techniques.

Recently, non-transgenic RNAi approaches, such as the direct exogenous delivery of dsRNA through spray on foliage or soil irrigation (for root absorption), have been considered promising alternatives for insect pest control. dsRNA can be loaded on layered double hydroxide (LDH) clay nanosheets (BioClay) and carbon nanotubes (size below ~10nm), which are then internalized into plant cells without external aid, such as gene guns, electroporation, and ultrasound. The small size of these carbon nanotubes decreases their activity and subsequently their environmental toxicity. This represents a promising avenue of research, and it is therefore vitally important to conduct systematic research on the application and potential toxicity of nano-scale carbon-based nanomaterials, in order to obtain the best environmental treatment efficiency.

This Special Issue aims to encourage new research ideas for the effective and safe application of carbon-based nanomaterials in the environment by modifying their preparation. We hope to investigate economically and environmentally friendly carbon-based nanomaterial preparation methods and their potential applications in the field of pest management and the interaction of nano-based materials with the environment.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Application of carbon-based materials for pest management
• Biological toxicity of carbon-based nanotubes in soil
• Preparation of carbon-based nanotubes for pest management
• Carbon-based materials and their impact on beneficial insects and the environment
• Carbon-based nanomaterial toxicity assessments
• Effect of carbon-based nanomaterials on environmental and human health