Open Access Conference Proceedings

Humic substances are inherent part of soil. They are responsible for plants nutrition as well as soil structure and composition. Their content in the land continues to decline in the past several decades. There is an effort to artificial replacement. It was found that dusting and spraying of plants are not very effective. The most of conventionally applied fertilizers are very often washed away by rainfall or blown by wind. The solution of these problems can be found in the use of humic substances as a part of the controlled release systems. There are countless possibilities how to prepare product which would be able to release humic substances to the land continuously with limited losses only. This work is focused on use of superabsorbent polymer as a vehicle of humic substances or conventional fertilizers or both together. Incorporation of humic substances into the hydrogel matrix of superabsorbent polymer is very effective for growing plants. This system facilitates the soil’s water management which is caused by structure of polymer network as well as humic substances specific properties. Nutrients are dosed to the structure of the hydrogel in an amount and combination to meet the particular needs of the certain plant. It is important to design the ideal composition of engineered products. They should contain sufficient nutrients, minimum or rather no pollutants where possible. They should undoubtedly be biocompatible and biodegradable and have enough durable mechanical properties.

Keywords: Humic substances, superabsorbent polymers, fertilizers

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