Metal-Phenolic Complexation Governs Soil Mineral Crystallinity to Enhance Crop Growth

Abstract

Plants release polyphenols into soil under stress, yet their role in regulating soil mineral structure and nutrient availability is unclear. Herein, tannic acid (TA), a representative plant-derived polyphenol, is used to first demonstrate the role of natural mineral particle restructuring in soil to control nutrient availability-a phenomenon that is facilitated through the formation of amorphous metal-phenolic complexes. From these findings, a coordination-driven assembly strategy is devised to engineer minerals with tunable crystallinity via coprecipitation of TA and minerals (calcium phosphate and struvite). These nature-inspired hybrid minerals exhibit reduced crystallinity (up to 46% rel..