AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Abstract View
Efficient Uptake of Aerosolized Nano-fertilizers by Plants as a Smart Agriculture Application
RAMESH RALIYA, Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St. Louis
Abstract Number: 143 Working Group: Nanoparticles and Materials Synthesis
Abstract We developed a process to make nanocomposite of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) and their aerosolized delivery to plants. NPK are the essential and major nutrient required by the plants. Globally, natural resources for these elements, in particular, P are being consumed at an alarming rate. The trends of fertilizer mining and consumption show that demand and application of fertilizer are being increased to enhance crop production. Currently, P is applied to soil as mono- or di-ammonium phosphate, and N as urea and K as an additive as potassium hydrogen phosphate and other similar compounds. In particular, P nutrient source is mined as rock phosphate. When the nutrient is applied in bulk form to the soil, due to low solubility and larger particle size (micrometer scale), a major fraction of the nutrient either run-off or produces complexes in the soil so the plant nutrient uptake rate is limited. The available P for plants by the conventional fertilizer is limited to less than about 20%. To enhance the NPK nutrient content and make them readily available for plants to uptake, we developed a process to make nanoscale (~100 nm) NPK composite using synthesis routes in a furnace aerosol reactor (FuAR). The composite has 53% available phosphorus which is more than double of that present in conventional fertilizers. Furthermore, we developed innovative foliar delivery methods for the nanoscale nutrients using conventional aerosol generation methods. This allowed efficient targeting of the fertilizer to the plant, thus minimizing the amount of material needed. The results of both the synthesis and delivery methodologies will be discussed.