Controlled release of nitrogen-source fertilizers by natural-oil-based poly(urethane) coatings: The kinetic aspects of urea release

Urea is the most common source of nitrogen fertilizer, but it has serious disadvantages with respect to volatilization and leaching; these can be controlled by polymeric coatings on the granules. However, the effectiveness of this strategy depends on the formed polymer presenting good adhesion, reactivity with the urea surface, uniformity, and efficient release kinetics control. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the release kinetics of urea coated by polyurethane produced from two oils (soybean and castor) by analyzing the influence of the thickness, coating stability, deposition interface, and total release time. The results demonstrate that castor oil produced superior materials, which achieved a total release time in water immersion of over 40 days with a total coating mass of less than 4% of the total mass. The good interface suggested that this material may produce coatings of good quality and long release times with minimum thickness, and this will maximize the total nitrogen present in the granule. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.