Journal of Polymers and the Environment

, Volume 26, Issue 6, pp 2448–2458 | Cite as

A Novel, Simple Route to Produce Urea:Urea–Formaldehyde Composites for Controlled Release of Fertilizers

Original Paper
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Abstract

Nitrogen loss through NH3 volatilization is a primary concern for urea as fertilizer due its fast hydrolysis by soil urease. To minimize this problem herein we developed a partially-polymerized urea–formaldehyde granule as a slow-release fertilizer, by melt stage process as a viable route for large-scale production. In this product the unreacted urea fraction acts as a fast release nutrient source while the polymerized fraction acts in longer times depending on the polymerization degree. This characteristic was analyzed by means of soil incubation experiments (up to 42 days), where the available NH4 + contents along time indicated significant lower N losses compared to conventional fertilizer, even for low-polymerized materials. Residual N in the structure was kept stored in the soil for future use by plants, as desired in many agricultural practices, showing that this simple polymerization method provides a smart fertilizer controlled by chemical structure.

Keywords

Nitrogen losses Partial polymerization Controlled-release Fertilizer 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by FAPESP (Sao Paulo Research Foundation, Grant No. 2013/11821-5 and 2016/09343-6), CNPq, and CAPES. We also acknowledge the Agronano Network (Embrapa Research Network) and National Nanotechnology Laboratory for Agribusiness (LNNA) for the institutional support and facilities.

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© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • A. S. Giroto
    • 1
    • 2
  • G. G. F. Guimarães
    • 2
  • C. Ribeiro
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of ChemistryFederal University of São CarlosSão CarlosBrazil
  2. 2.Embrapa InstrumentationSão CarlosBrazil

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