Coating Fertilizer Granules With Biodegradable Materials for Controlled Fertilizer Release

Biodegradable chitosan was used to cover fertilizer granules with an inert, impermeable layer in order to obtain a material with controlled release properties.The process was performed in a laboratory drum granulator.Prepared materials were characterized with available analytical methods (XRD, optical microscopy).The layer thickness of the obtained materials was in the range of 0.047 -0.5425 mm.The degree of nutrients' release (0.64-0.965 within five hours) were determined with standardized method.Exponential, sigmoidal and power equations were used to describe the kinetics of nutrients' release.