Kinetic model studies of controlled nutrient release and swelling behavior of combo hydrogel using Acer platanoides cellulose

Abstract

BackgroundSustainable agriculture exclusively relies on the effective management of fertilizers and plays a significant role in reducing environmental threats. Herein, using a controlled release combo hydrogel (CRCH) can improve agronomy practices by increasing nutrient availability and thereby enhancing plant growth. It is accomplished by fabricating a CRCH and coating over the essential nutrient fertilizers to get significant results. MethodThe CRCH fabrication comprises cellulose extraction from Acer platanoides and incorporating with acrylic acid (AA) and n-isopropyl acrylamide (nIPAM) in the presence of initiator (K2S2O8) and a crosslinker MBA to develop a 3D crosslinked polymeric structure. Extracted cellulose and controlled release combo hydrogel were characterized by FTIR, XRD, and TGA. Significant findingsKinetic study of swelling and nutrient release, using Korsmeyer-Peppa Model, explained that the diffusion process took place through non-fickian mechanism and fitting of other kinetic models also evaluated. CRCH showed 88.8%, 74.4%, and 60.1% swelling ratio in deionized water, tap water, and in 0.9% NaCl solution respectively. An analysis of nutrient release profiles in deionized water, NaCl, and CaCl2 revealed that phosphorus has a relatively slower release than nitrogen. The findings coincide with other studies and proved its controlled nutrient release behavior that is valuable for agriculture.