Bioplastic composite of carboxymethyl cellulose/N-P-K fertilizer

Bioplastic composites of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and N-P-K fertilizer have been prepared at various amount of N-P-K. The bioplastics were prepared by solvent casting the sol precursors containing 10 to 50 (wt.) commercial N-P-K fertilizer powder in petri dishes. Characterization was done by using infrared spectrophotometer to access the functional groups, XRD to evaluate the crystalline phase, and universal testing machine to determine the mechanical properties. The nitrogen and phosphorus contents were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, while the potassium content was determined by using atomic absorption spectrometer. The results show that the bioplastic composites of CMC/N-P-K fertilizer can be prepared up to 40 (wt.) of N-P-K powder without losing its plasticity. The mechanical properties of the resulted bioplastic composites decrease at high content of N-P-K powder, with the highest at 25 wt.. The uptake of nitrogen and phosphorous was not affected by the amount of the N-P-K powders precursor, but the potassium was. Various possible interactions between N-P-K powder and CMC matrix allow the resulting composite to function as a controlled release of N-P-K fertilizer. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.