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A novel ambipolar‐resin membrane for extracting soil nutrients
Author(s) -
Men Yuying,
He Liyuan,
Zhang Aiqun,
Theng Benny K. G.,
Liu Huabo,
Guo Zaihua
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200700367
Subject(s) - membrane , chemistry , adsorption , nutrient , glutaraldehyde , chromatography , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry
We have synthesized a novel ambipolar membrane for the simple, rapid, and simultaneous extraction of key nutrients from soil. The membrane was made by adding an anion‐ and a cation‐exchange resin to a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel in the presence of glutaraldehyde as a cross‐linking agent. The synthetic membrane was efficient in adsorbing (extracting) NO $ _3^- $ , PO $ _3^{3-} $ , K + , Ca 2+ , and Mg 2+ ions from soil simultaneously. The ion‐adsorption capacity of the membrane was related to the soil nutrient status, duration of membrane–soil contact, and soil water content. The importance of these factors followed the order: soil nutrient status > contact time > soil water content. Adsorption by the membrane of NO $ _3^- $ and Mg 2+ ions from soil leveled off after 48 h of membrane–soil contact but uptake of Ca 2+ , PO $ _3^{3-} $ , and K + ions required a longer contact time for equilibrium to be established. When the soil water content exceeds 55% w/w, this factor ceased to influence ion adsorption by the ambipolar‐resin membrane. The synthetic membrane is potentially useful for the in situ assessment of the nutrient requirement of certain crops at a given point in time.