Abstract
Mesoporous C (MC) has potential for controlling NH3 volatilization from fertilizer urea because of a high capacity for sorption of ions and gases, and so does sodium alginate (SA), a natural superabsorbent that has received considerable attention for developing slow-release fertilizers. Following stirred-flow experiments to evaluate both amendments for slowing urea release in water, novel studies were conducted that determined their impact on transformations of urea N during aerobic incubation of a sand and silt loam using 15N tracer techniques to unambiguously differentiate fertilizer from soil N. Neither amendment showed appreciable slow-release behavior nor had any significant effect on urea N transformations in the silt loam; however, NH3 volatilization from the sand was significantly decreased by up to 47% with SA and by up to 38% with MC, while SA also significantly increased NO3− production by 42–114%. Taken together with the inherent advantages of a natural material that is widely available, economical, and biodegradable, the results reported indicate that SA has more potential than MC for enhancing the fertilizer value of urea.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2257-2269 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 17 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 24 2020 |
Keywords
- Urea-N transformations
- ammonia volatilization
- incubation study
- n
- stirred-flow
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Soil Science