Mechanical Activation of Smectite-Based Nanocomposites for Creation of Smart Fertilizers

Maxim Rudmin,Kanipa Ibraeva,Alexander Konstantinov,Boris Makarov,Santanu Banerjee

doi:10.3390/app12020809

Abstract

This research presents the mechanical creation of smart fertilizers from a mixture of smectite and urea in a 3:2 ratio by using the planetary milling technique. The smectite–urea composites show intercalation between urea and mineral, which increases steadily with increasing activation time. A shift of X-Ray Diffraction basal reflections, intensities of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) peaks, and weight losses in thermogravimetric analysis (TG) document the systematic crystallo-chemical changes of the composites related to nitrogen interaction with activation. Observations of the nanocomposites by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) corroborate the inference. Nitrogen intercalates with smectite in the interlayer space and remains absorbed either within micro-aggregates or on the surface of activated smectites. Soil leaching tests reveal a slower rate of nitrogen than that of traditional urea fertilizers. Different forms of nitrogen within the composites cause their differential release rates to the soil. The formulated nanocomposite fertilizer enhances the quality and quantity of oat yield.

Highlights

Controlled-release fertilizers (CRF), or smart fertilizers [1], are essential for future, environment-friendly agronomic activities [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
This study investigates different forms of nitrogen within the nanocomposites produced after the mechanical activation of initial mixtures and estimates the extent of intercalation, adsorbed, and absorbed nitrogen
Mineral-based composites with controlled-release properties were formulated by the mechanical activation of smectite and urea mixture in a ratio of 3:2

Summary

Introduction

Controlled-release fertilizers (CRF), or smart fertilizers [1], are essential for future, environment-friendly agronomic activities [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Eco-friendly agronomic activities and waste-free crop production are crucial to sustain the demand. The application of traditional fertilizers causes adverse environmental consequences, they increase the quality and quantity of crop [12]. The excess nutrients released by traditional fertilizers deteriorate subsurface and surface water [6,12,14,15,16]. The development of fertilizers with controlled nutrient release properties is a solution to this problem [5,6,17,18]

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