Potassium Release Kinetics and Water Retention of Controlled-Release Fertilizers Based on Chitosan Hydrogels

Controlled release fertilizer (CRF) hydrogels were prepared from poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan and chitosan using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. Intermolecular interactions of the CRF hydrogels were elucidated using FTIR. Water absorbency characteristics of the CRF hydrogels were also studied. It was found that the CRF hydrogels exhibited the equilibrium swelling ratio (SR) in the range 70–300%. The water retention of soil containing the CRF hydrogels was also examined. It was found that the CRF hydrogels increased the water retention of the soil. After 30 days, soil containing the PVA-, PVA/CS- and CS-hydrogels showed the water retention capacities of 25%, 10% and 4%, respectively. While the soil without the CRF hydrogel had already given off most of the water. The release behavior of potassium from the CRF hydrogels, both in deionized water and in soil, was investigated. In soil, the potassium release mechanism from the PVA- and PVA/CS-hydrogels were non-Fickian diffusion. On the other hand, the CS hydrogel showed, n value that was close to 1.0 corresponding to case II transport. In deionized water, all the CRF hydrogels showed small values of release exponent (n < 0.5) indicating a quasi-Fickian diffusion mechanism.