Indian Journal of Science and Technology

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A laboratory study was undertaken to determine the N release pattern of Urea Intercalated Biochar derived from Prosopis juliflora. Biochar was produced by pyrolysing the wood cuttings excluding the bark at 350°C. The resultant biochar was characterized using XRD, FT-IR, Raman Spectroscopy and SEM. After characterization, different forms of nitrogen viz., NH4+, NO3−, NH2, Combined NH4+ and NO3− were loaded at varying concentrations (20-200 mM) and sorption and desorption characteristics were examined. Among the forms tested, urea fortified with biochar showed lower desorption at levels of N loading concentration. A new biochar based formulation was evolved by intercalating biochar with urea at 1:1 ratio through hydrothermal method. The intercalated urea: biochar (1:1 ratio) fertilizer was characterised using the set of equipments and the total nitrogen was quantified as 30% as per the EDAX values which closely coincided with analytical values. The retention and release pattern of urea intercalated biochar depicts that the biochar derived PJ is a potential substrate that can be exploited to develop slow release N fertilizer with higher use efficiency and less environmental harzard.

Keywords

Biochar, Pyrolysis, Slow Release Fertilizer, Sorption, Urea
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