Effect of NPK fertilizer incorporation on the characteristics of Nanocellulose-based hydrogel

Abstract

Abstract Hydrogels are cross-linked polymers networks with high absorbing water capacity and good biocompatibility. It has been widely used as an agrochemical delivery system as well to increase the efficiency of fertilizer by releasing lower dose at a time thus protecting the environment. This research aims was to study the effect of NPK fertilizer concentration on hydrogel characteristics. The raw material used in this study was corn cobs nanocellulose. The experiment was set up in one way completely randomized design with various kinds of dose fertilizes (0, 5, 10, and 15%) with three replicates. Parameters observed were swelling ratio, moisture content, nitrogen content, potassium content, phosphorus content, texture and surface morphology. The enriched hydrogel was applied as a soil conditioner and fertilizer for chili crops. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the various kinds of dose fertilizer significantly influenced their physicochemical properties (p<0.05). The higher the fertilizer concentration added, the lower the swelling ratio. The addition of fertilizer with dose 5% resulted the highest swelling ratio. This product consists of 15.82% moisture content, 1.81% of nitrogen content, 1.57% of potassium content, 0.04% of phosphorus content, and 25.17 mJ of hardness.