Abstract
Superabsorbents starches (SASs) were synthesized and characterized starting from native corn starch, bitter cassava and sweet cassava by graft copolymerization with itaconic acid. Additionally, their swelling behavior was studied both in water and in buffer solutions with different pHs and saline solutions. Their applicability was tested as environmentally friendly fertilizers in the absorption and release of urea, potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate at different concentrations of fertilizers. The values of swelling at the equilibrium (H∞) in water and different media of the graft copolymers demonstrated their superabsorbent capacity, polyelectrolyte behavior, and smart response to environmental stimuli. The percentage of fertilizer absorbed and released from the SASs was a function of the initial concentration of the fertilizer in the medium. The loading and release of SASs were depended on the initial concentration of the fertilizer in the medium as well as the nature, structure, and morphology of the starch used.
Highlights
New technologies developments in agriculture have generated greater fertilizer and water inputs.Production per unit of land has greatly increased what has allowed increasing economic developments.while these developments have been significant, the environmental impact has been excessive.Such costs associated with agricultural development have resulted from excessive application of fertilizers, which lead to eutrophication and water toxicity, pollution of irrigation water, air pollution (NH3, among others), degradation of quality of soil and changes in the ecosystem, resulting in the hydrolysis of nutrients and the action of microorganisms, questioning the sustainability of modern agriculture [1,2]
While these developments have been significant, the environmental impact has been excessive
Where VB and VM are the titrant volumes in mL consumed by the blank and the starch sample in the respective assay, CHCl is the concentration of HCl in mol/L, CNaOH is the concentration of NaOH in mol/L and WD is the mass of the dry sample in g
Summary
New technologies developments in agriculture have generated greater fertilizer and water inputs. New ecofriendly treatments are necessary to increase production without compromising the environment This can be achieved by efficiently increasing the use of fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium) and water as well as the integrated use of crop system management. SASs are hydrophilic polymer networks that can absorb and retain a large amount of water They are potential materials to regulate fertilizer release behavior due to their electrical charge and interconnection of open channels in the network. IA is a diprotic acid of natural origin, which incorporated acid functional groups to the structure of starch capable of responding to external stimuli and interacting with chemical species in the environment [9] These SASs were used for the first time as environmentally friendly nitrogen fertilizers, including urea, KNO3 , and NH4 NO3. KNO3 is an excellent fertilizer that contains two primary nutrients [2]
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