Nitrogen
(N) is the most widely applied macronutrient to maintain
soil fertility. However, the conventional N fertilizers applied to
the soil are generally of low N use efficiency due to N loss by means
of lixiviation and volatilization. Therefore, the application of slow-release
N fertilizers is one of the advanced solutions to overcome these issues.
The purpose of this study is to develop new slow-release N fertilizers
(N-SRFs) pellets using oxidized cellulose nanocrystals (CNCOX) and citric acid grafted cellulose nanocrystals (CNCCA) modified natural hydroxyapatite hybrid nanocomposites (HAP–CNCox and HAP–CNCCA) as a carrier for nitrogen
delivery. The HAP–CNCox and HAP–CNCCA hybrid composites were prepared by an in situ wet chemical precipitation
method using phosphate rock as a source of calcium (Ca2+) and phosphorus (PO4
3–). Urea was immobilized
onto the CNC–HAP composites in an aqueous solution to produce
three N-SRF formulations: HAP–urea, HAP–CNCox–urea, and HAP–CNCCA–urea. Fertilizer
formulations were fully characterized by means of structural (FTIR
and DRX) and morphological (SEM) tools, and the results demonstrated
that urea molecules are strongly bonded to HAP and HAP–CNC
composites through several mechanisms including H-bonding, metal–ligand
interactions, and physical storage within the existing micro- and
nanopores. The water release experiment of developed N-SRFs demonstrated
that the developed SRFs displayed a slow-release N property and required
18 days for a complete N release in water compared to the pure urea,
which dissolves rapidly within the first 3 h. The release kinetics
of urea in water was best described by Korsmeyer–Peppas, while
the release mechanism in water is best described by a first-order
kinetic model.