Superabsorbent nanocomposite as micronutrient slow-release fertilizer

In this research, sodium alginate grafted by poly(acrylate-co-acrylamide) loaded montmorillonite (MMT) and the addition of boric acid as micronutrients into the superabsorbent nanocomposite through in-situ method have been successfully synthesized. We developed superabsorbent nanocomposite with montmorillonite obtained by increasing the amount of montmorolite, which would increase the swelling capacity and by adding boric acid micronutrients will also increase water swelling capacity. The best swelling capacity to water of superabsorbent nanocomposite obtained 426.337 g/g that formulated with MMT contents approximately 20.0 % wt and 0.1 g boric acid. The optimal release capacity of boric acid is 25.561 % for 8000 min or about 6 days. This is supported by the study of kinetics for the water swelling in pseudo second-order while the boric acid release is pseudo first-order obtained. The nanocomposite superabsorbents that are successfully synthesized show that the release of boric acid micronutrients as slow release can be controlled and denoted interesting materials to be applied in agriculture.