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Carbonaceous microsphere‐based superabsorbent polymer as filler for coating of NPK fertilizer: Fabrication, properties, swelling, and nitrogen release characteristics
Author(s) -
Ahmed Khan Tanveer,
Zakaria Munirah Ezzah Tuan,
Kim HyunJoong,
Ghazali Suriati,
Jamari Saidatul Shima
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.48396
Subject(s) - controlled release , fertilizer , polymer , swelling , superabsorbent polymer , nitrogen , phosphorus , potassium , chemistry , materials science , coating , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , engineering
Recently, the use of controlled release fertilizers in agriculture has resulted in huge benefits in plant growth and cultivation. Superabsorbent polymer (SAP)‐coated fertilizers have the added advantage in retaining water in soil after irrigation and also reduce the nutrient release rate from soil in a controlled manner. This study aimed to produce a nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium (NPK) fertilizer coated with superabsorbent carbonaceous microspheres polymer (SPC) by inverse suspension polymerization method with water‐retention and controlled release properties. Two sets of experiments were conducted: (1) three different weight percentages and (2) different materials. NPK coated with SPC showed increasing water‐retention ability with respect to carbon microsphere percentages and retains >80% water at the 30th day of experiment compared with pure NPK and NPK coated with SAP. The slow release behavior of all samples was investigated by induced coupled plasma mass spectrometry spectrometry and results showed that NPK coated with SAP and SPC has a low release rate with <50% nutrient release compared with uncoated NPK at the 30th day. The release mechanism kinetics of NPK coated with SAP and SPC were studied based on the Kosmeyer–Peppas model. The mechanisms approached Fickian diffusion‐controlled release as the n value for both samples was less than 0.5. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137 , 48396.