Restraint of crop yields due to the deficiency of plant nutrients calls for an urgent compulsion in developing advanced materials for effective plant nutrient delivery. The hybrid composites incorporating nanoparticles as carriers provide futuristic reinforcement in agronomy. This work communicates the use of zinc doped urea-hydroxyapatite nanohybrids in a novel nano-seed coating on Maize (Zea mays L.) seeds. A one-pot in-situ sol-gel synthetic route was utilized to synthesize the nanohybrids. The advanced seed coating was designed to deliver two macronutrients; nitrogen and phosphorus as well as a micronutrient; zinc during the seedling stage. Successful doping of zinc and incorporation of urea into the hydroxyapatite matrix were reported with a transformation of the lattice environment. The germination study revealed that the Zn doped urea-hydroxyapatite coated seeds exhibited the highest germination percentage (73.3%) with a significant difference (P &lt; 0.05) among the treatments at 7 days while resulting in the highest plant height and dry seedling weight after 14 days. Therefore, it can be concluded that the developed nano-seed coating was competent in escalating the growth rate of Maize seeds claiming its applicability as a prospective delivery candidate for nitrogen, phosphorus, and zinc at the seedling stage.

Modified hydroxyapatite nano seed coating for the seedling stage enhancement of Zea Mays

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.