Cinética de liberación de nutrientes de un fertilizante recubierto con carragenina

Abstract

In recent years the agricultural sector has proposed sustainable alternatives to reduce environmental damage that are caused by the inappropriate use of conventional fertilizers, as a result, the objective of this work was to evaluate the kinetics of nutrient release with polymeric coating based of carrageenan, in order to determine if nutrients are released in a controlled manner when exposed to different pH media. In this way, to fulfill the purpose of the research, four experimental phases were carried out, in the first phase the formulation was prepared with the proportions of glycerin, fertilizer and Carragel MCH 5722 established by Ávila (1); in the second phase the concentration of nutrients (PO4-3, NO3- and NH4 +) released in different time periods was determined by means of spectrophotometric techniques, these results being statistically treated by simple ANOVA; In the third phase, the kinetic model that best explained the release behavior of the nutrients was determined; and as a last stage the tests were carried out, which are established in the European standard 13266 for controlled release fertilizers (CFR). Taking into account the results obtained, carrageenan can not be discarded as an input for the preparation of CFR, because its properties of hydrogel, biodegradability and formation of firm gels are essential for CFR systems, which is why it is important to rethink options such as thickness of the formulation, the proportion of fertilizer or crosslinking agent, etc., all with the purpose of regulating the migration of the ions to the medium and thus allowing it to be used as a controlled release fertilizer.