Controlled‐release fertilizer based on poly(butylene succinate)/urea/clay and its effect on lettuce growth

Abstract

Controlled‐release fertilizer is one of the most critical tools in agribusiness for decreasing environmental impacts. Thus, the development of bio‐based systems able to induce the slow release of fertilizers has become the focus of numerous researchers. In this sense, this work presents a slow‐release fertilizer prepared by melt mixing of poly(butylene succinate) filled with 30 wt % urea and 5 wt % montmorillonite clay. The obtained materials were characterized using FTIR, XRD, and SAXS. Also, the release of urea was investigated using gravimetric and spectrophotometric tests. Finally, a vegetable growth analysis was performed to evaluate the development of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). The best composite material can increase the diameter of the lettuce by 67%, whereas the conventional use of urea increased this diameter by 48%. Therefore, the presented materials are useful as fertilizer systems.

Mechanochemical Preparation of Slow Release Fertilizer Based on Glauconite–Urea Complexes

“…The intensity of the symmetric deformation of N-H at 1465 cm −1 decreased as well, but peaks of the clay minerals remained. The change in the intensity of the C-N and N-H strains can be explained by the intercalation of these molecules into the interlayer space [21,23,49,50] of the dioctahedral mineral (glauconite). This is consistent with the relatively stable chemical composition of the composites (Table 1) and XRD spectra (Figure 1).…”

“…Because fertilization of agricultural soils with urea increases the risks of environmental pollution due to the distribution of excess nitrogen, creating SRF composites that control the release of nitrogen to plants is necessary [17][18][19]. Based on urea as an SRF component, polymers [20,21], clay minerals such as montmorillonite [22,23], and kaolinite [24,25] were investigated. Clay minerals are environmentally stable and cheap for the synthesis of SRF [10,11,[26][27][28].…”

Production and toxicological evaluation of poly(butylene succinate)–urea microspheres targeting bioremediation

“…The presence of urea in this sample is also evident between 1500 and 1750 cm −1 , through the bands found there: 1471 and 1465 cm −1 corresponding to the C N group. 53 In order to perform a statistical comparison of the obtained data, the least squares technique was used, with calculation of the correlation and RMSE between the studied samples and a model. The RMSE is considered a tool of great value in comparative analysis, since it allows the adjustment between the experimental data and the model.…”

“…Therefore, it was possible to confirm that the double emulsion of this study allowed the production of urea-retaining PBS microspheres, from which the controlled release of urea reached a maximum in 72 h, a time longer than that reported previously. 19,53 The findings show that the technique is feasible, although it still requires improvement for cases where the objective is longer controlled release times.…”

“…Studies of the controlled release of urea have been conducted for its use in fertilizers and in biostimulation for bioremediation. Authors such as Baldanza et al 53 have evaluated the effect of direct addition of urea, urea added and immobilized in PBS microspheres and through PBS with clay addition in the development of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). The kinetics of urea release showed a maximum release (30%) around 24 h for the matrix composed of PBS; 5% (m/v) clay and 30% (m/v) urea; and about 17% for the matrix composed of PBS and 30% urea, in the same period.…”