Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles and their effect on priming of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under salinity stress

Author: Ayesha Mushtaq*, Nelofer Jamil*, Musarrat Riaz*, G. L. Hornyak**, Nazeer Ahmed***,Shahjahan Shabbir Ahmed***, M. Naeem Shahwani*** and M. Najam Khan Malghani***

Journal Name:

Download PDF

Abstract

Synthesis of silica nanoparticle is getting great attention, due to their increased use in multidiscipline in advanced research. In this study ultrasonication based spherical Silica nanoparticles (50-100 nm) have been synthesized by modified Stober method using Tetraethylorthosilicate as a precursor. The synthesized silica nanoparticles have been used to study their effect on the wheat grown under salinity stress. Wheat seeds were primed in distilled water (control) and in two treatments T1 (SiNps 100 nm) and T2 (SiNps 50 nm).The seed germination increased from 68% (control) to 81% (T1) and 88% (T2).The young seedlings were grown in Hydroponics in Hoagland medium in controlled conditions under non-saline and saline (100 Mm NaCl) environments. All the growth parameters (root & shoot length, plants weight and chlorophyll content) that were reduced in the saline environments were increased insilica nanoparticlesprimed seeds, which shows the potential of silica nanoparticlesin breaking the

Keywords

Silica nanoparticles, Sol-gel, ultrasonication, wheat, salinity stress, seed priming, pre-chilling

Conclusion

Silica nanoparticles can be conveniently prepared by modified Stober method in ultrasonication and due to their small size they are immediately utilizable source of silicon for plants. Seed priming by silica nanoparticles broke the dormancy of wheat seeds therefore silica nanoparticles priming that has been introduced for the first time in wheat can be aneconomic and effective technique in breaking the dormancy of seeds and improving their germination rate. Silica nanoparticles significantly enhanced the seed germination and all the growth parameters in the saline environment therefore can be used for improvement of wheat growth and yield in saline areas.

References

The synthesis and the use of nanoparticles is of pronounced interest in recent research activities due to progress of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and their broad applications in multidiscipline (Huan and Shu-Qing, 2014). With widespread of Nanotechnology, nanoparticles are synthesized on large scale now-a-days and silicananoparticles are one of the most popular among these. Silica nanoparticles (SiNps) attained great attention in scientific research due to their informal synthesis and their broad applications in different industries like; agriculture, pharmacy, pigments, catalysis, electronic etc (Rao et al., 2005). Stober was the pioneer to prepare silica nanoparticles of 0.05 to 2 micron in diameter (Stöber et al., 1968). Stober's method is the most popular and common method among researchers with little modifications and is now acquaint with ultrasonication. The literature surveys indicated that the Sol-Gel process (Stober's Method) has been evidenced as a promising simplest an

How to cite this article

Ayesha Mushtaq, Nelofer Jamil, Musarrat Riaz, G. L. Hornyak, Nazeer Ahmed,Shahjahan Shabbir Ahmed, M. Naeem Shahwani and M. Najam Khan Malghani (2017). Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles and their effect on priming of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under sa