Hydrogen has potential biological effects of promoting seed germination and plant growth. Nevertheless, since hydrogen is highly volatile, it is extremely challengng to coat seeds with hydrogen. Solid-state magnesium-based hydrogen storage material magnesium hydride (MgH₂) could offer reliable hydrogen for seed because of its high hydrogen storage density, rich hydrogen supply by hydrolysis, long-term sustained release, and easy use. This study used a seed coating technology to coat soybeans by MgH₂ and set up the MgO-coated soybean group as a positive control and the un-coated soybean group as a negative control. The effects of different treatments on soybean germination potential, germination rate, germination index and the influence of phenotypic traits, such as aboveground/underground fresh weight, stem length/thickness, total root length, number of lateral roots and leaf area of seedlings, were comprehensively investigated. Results showed that the promotion effects of different coating treatments on soybean germination and seedling growth were in the order: non-coating group 2 coating group. Comprehensive analysis was conducted using SPSS, and results suggested that the MgH₂-L₃ coated soybean group exhibited the highest comprehensive score and was thus the best coating recipe. Such optimal germination and growth performance of soybeans by MgH₂-coatings may be attributed to the synergistic biological effects of both magnesium and hydrogen released by hydrolysis of MgH₂.

magnesium hydride  /  seed coating  /  hydrogen fertilizer  /  germination of soybean