Effects of Different Chabazite Zeolite Amendments to Sorption of Nitrification Inhibitor 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole Phosphate (DMPP) in Soil

Abstract

Application of natural zeolitites (ZTs, rock with > 50% of zeolites) as a soil amendment is recognized as a suitable method for increasing substrate quality. ZT is used at natural state or pre-enriched with specific cations (e.g., NH 4 +) to slow-release nutrients. ZT at natural state has been shown to mitigate gaseous N losses and favor crop yield, while NH 4-enriched ZT has been reported to show quick NO 3 − production and relatively high gaseous N losses. The use of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) could alleviate these losses. In this work, the sorption behavior of a synthetic NI 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on different soil-ZT mixtures as well as on pure ZTs (natural and NH 4enriched) was tested. High sorption of NI can reduce its inhibitory effects and consequently the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Results show that natural ZTs had a deficient capacity for DMPP sorption and thus decreased the possibility to retain DMPP once applied to the soil. The sorption capacity strongly positively correlated to soil organic C content, supporting that sorption was mainly driven by soil organic matter. Any types of ZT added to the soil, notably that at natural state, have decreased the potential sorption of DMPP principally because of a dilution of the total organic C which reduced substrate hydrophobicity. A lower DMPP sorption in the substrate can mean higher availability of DMPP to soil microbial biomass and thus a higher potential in inhibiting nitrification. These beneficial effects may result in an advantageous strategy for increasing NUE.

Gross Ammonification and Nitrification Rates in Soil Amended with Natural and NH4-Enriched Chabazite Zeolite and Nitrification Inhibitor DMPP

“…The differences between these two treatments were, however, exiguous (even if statistically significant) and in summary, nitrate production was reduced by~38% after the addition of DMPP in both treatments. As the sorption capacity of DMPP in this soil was already established to be slightly reduced by CHA zeolite application (especially NZ p ) [58], the inhibition efficiency of DMPP was expected to be possibly even increased after CHA application. If the sorption of DMPP is reduced, it is reasonable to hypothesize a higher and faster inhibitory effect on zeolite amended soils.…”

“…The soil organic C content and amount of clay minerals can also play a role in the performance of DMPP as a consequence of sorption-effects [56]. High sorption of DMPP may result in a lower availability to microorganisms and hence to a lower efficiency; the authors of [55,57,58] evaluated the effects of natural and NH 4 + -charged CHA-zeolite on the sorption of DMPP in soil and concluded that the soil was more efficient in binding DMPP, thanks to the presence of higher levels of organic C that favored the sorption of DMPP. The CHA-zeolite contained in the tuff could not, therefore, retain DMPP by ion exchange processes but instead brought mostly to a reduction in the overall sorption capacity of the soil, due to their lack of organic C. This outcome speculates if this lower sorption capacity in zeolite amended soils also affects the availability of DMPP to soil microbial biomass and consequently the overall efficiency in inhibiting nitrification.…”

Amount and speciation of N leached from a sandy soil fertilized with urea, liquid digestate, struvite and NH4‐enriched chabazite zeolite‐tuff

“…According to several other recent studies in which this specific chabazitic-zeolitite was used, the total CEC was assumed to be 2.17 meq g −1 (of which 1.46 because of Ca 2+ , 0.60 to K + , 0.07 to Na + and 0.04 to Mg 2+ ) (Ferretti, Keiblinger, et al, 2020, Ferretti et al, 2019Malferrari et al, 2021Malferrari et al, , 2013. The particle size distribution was mainly characterized by silt particles, as demonstrated by X-ray sedimentation analysis (0.4% between 250 and 125 μm (fine sand), 2.8% between 125 and 62.5 μm (very fine sand), 75.6% between 62.5 and 3.9 μm (silt), and 21.2% less than 3.9 μm (clay)).…”

Worldwide Research Analysis on Natural Zeolites as Environmental Remediation Materials

“…This is followed by cluster 7 (orange) "NZ use in Soil Degradation (SD)" with five nodes and 45 co-occurrences. It is applied as a soil amendment method with natural zeolites to reduce and control the dynamics of nitrate and ammoniacal nitrogen [122], reducing the losses of gaseous N and favoring crop yield [123], promoting mitigation for, especially, agricultural soils [124], with keywords "degradation", "cation exchange", and "stabilization". Finally, in cluster 11 (turquoise), "Ammonia Adsorption Capacity (AC) by NZ" (three nodes, 40 co-occurrences), based on studies to determine the adsorption capacity of ammonia using natural zeolites [125], which project great potential and efficacy as microporous materials [126], with keywords "ammonia" and "adsorption capacity".…”