Preparação e caracterização de fertilizante nitrogenado com polímero biodegradável para testes de liberação

Abstract

Nitrogen is one of the main nutrients for the development of plants. However, in many situations the soil is not able to meet all its demand, generating the need for the application of nitrogen fertilizers. The most commonly used nitrogen fertilizer in agriculture is urea with a melting point of 133 ° C, complex thermal decomposition and high solubility in water. The urea decomposes even at room temperature, especially in humid atmosphere, undergoing hydrolysis, releasing ammonia and carbon dioxide, in addition to being leached by the action of rains, generating great losses. In this context, release nitrogen fertilizers arise, and can be obtained by coating the fertilizer with biodegradable polymers. Several studies have been done for the use of polymer matrices in the immobilization of several materials. The objective of the present work was to develop and characterize samples with different amounts of hydrogel from methylcellulose (MC), biopolymer and incorporate the urea into it. The samples were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The results show that although the samples showed more urea characteristics, there was an increase of %C determining the presence of MC in them. Future steps of the work predict soil tests with the sample that presented the best characteristics.