Poliuretanos à base de lignina do endocarpo do coco seco como potencial sistema de liberação controlada de fertilizantes

Abstract

The uncontrolled increase in fertilizer consumption coupled with the low efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers has caused an increase in air and water pollution and the costs related to the applications and imports of these products. An alternative to this problem is the use of biodegradable polymers to coat fertilizers and release them in a controlled manner. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the use of (NH4)2SO4 coated with lignin based PUs as controlled release systems, through preliminary kinetics studies of their release. The lignin obtained in the optimized condition (LCO) was characterized by FTIR, GPC, NMR 1H and 13C, TGA/DTG, DSC and quantitatively in relation to their functional groups. In the formulations of the LCO-based PUs a CCDR 22 was employed. The PUs obtained were characterized by FTIR, TGA/DTG, DSC, SEM, diametrical compression tests, swelling tests and biodegradability assays. The (NH4)2SO4 coated with the selected formulations were subjected to NH4+ and SO42-release in water and in water-saturated sílica percolation columns. The extraction condition that produced a more suitable lignin to be used as input in the synthesis of PUs was at 130 °C for 73 minutes, which was confirmed by its characterization. Among the PUs obtained in the experimental design, the highest (PU 1, 98 %) and lowest porosity (PU E9, 79 %) were chosen, which presented lowest (89 %) and highest (95 %) degree of crosslinking, respectively, to be characterized and subsequently used in the (NH4)2SO4 coating. The characterization of these PUs showed that the thermal, mechanical, swelling and biodegradability properties were dependent on the lignin content used in the formulations. Controlled release assays of (NH4)2SO4 coated with LCO-based PUs in water and in water-saturated sílica percolation columns showed that the porosity and degree of swelling of the PUs influenced the kinetics and the amount of nutrients released in both cases, which it was always observed that the release of SO42-in greater quantity than NH4+. Moreover, it was also observed that the release medium influences the kinetics and the amount of nutrients released, since the rates of release of NH4+ and SO42-in the water-saturated sílica percolation columns were lower than in water. It is possible conclude that the proposed controlled release systems were efficient since they were in accordance with the standards required by CEN for controlled release fertilizers.