Biobased Polymer Composites Derived from Corn Stover and Feather Meals as Double-Coating Materials for Controlled-Release and Water-Retention Urea Fertilizers

In this paper, we synthesized a biobased polyurethane using liquefied corn stover, isocyanate, and diethylenetriamine. The synthesized polyurethane was used as a coating material to control nitrogen (N) release from polymer-coated urea. A novel superabsorbent composite was also formulated from chicken feather protein (CFP), acrylic acid, and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide and used as an outer coating material for water retention. We studied the N release characteristics and water-retention capability of the double-layer polymer-coated urea (DPCU) applied in both water and soils. The ear yields, dry matter accumulation, total N use efficiency and N leaching from a sweet corn soil-plant system under two different irrigation regimes were also investigated. Comparison of DPCU treatments with conventional urea fertilizer revealed that DPCU treatments reduced the N release rate and improved water retention capability. Evaluation of soil and plant characteristics within the soil-plant system revealed that DPCU application effectively reduced N leaching loss, improved total N use efficiency, and increased soil water retention capability.