Recent progresses in coatings of water-soluble fertilisers
Conventional fertilisers suffer from low efficacy due to the fast release of nutrients. The coating of granular fertiliser is considered as the best way to enhance their efficiency.
Nowadays, biodegradable polymers are replacing synthetic polymers and avoiding the accumulation of nondegradable plastic residues in arable land. Since the coating of fertilisers by sulfur was criticised, many research studies investigated the use of polysaccharide such as cellulose, chitosan, carrageenan, lignin, and starch or aliphatic polyesters such as polylactide and polycaprolactone as coating matrix for granular fertiliser coating to delay or control the dissolution rate of nutrients.
Different coating processes
A new review starts by apprising the readers about the environmental impact of conventional fertilisers (uncoated) and then an overview on the use of all those biopolymers and their combination for the coating agent mineral fertiliser. Furthermore, the present contribution provides an outline on different coating processes solicited in the field and the slow-release fertilisers criteria.
The review has been published in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 19, July 2022.
