Synthesis and performance of bio-based epoxy coated urea as controlled release fertilizer

Nearly 1 billion tons of bagasse are discarded annually in the production process. In this work, a novel controlled release fertilizer was successfully produced by coating urea particles with bio-based epoxy (EPCU). The bio-based epoxy coating was synthesized from the liquefied bagasse (LB) and bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether (BDE) with the different mole ratios of LB to BDE. The chemical structure and microscopic morphology of EPCU were examined by FTIR, 1 HNMR, SEM. The nutrient release behaviors and mechanism of EPCUs were also discussed in detail. Results showed that EPCU3 improved the thermal stability by 60.3 °C (T 10% ), increased the nutrient release longevity by 12 times, and raised the water contact angle of surface by 12%, and then significantly slowed the nitrogen release rate of the EPCU. This work indicated that the environment-friendly EPCU with superior controlled release properties could be especially useful in horticultural and agricultural applications.