Improvement in the Water Retention Characteristics of Sandy Loam Soil Using a Newly Synthesized Poly(acrylamide-<em>co</em>-acrylic Acid)/AlZnFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Superabsorbent Hydrogel Nanocomposite Material

• Main Authors: Shaukat Ali Shahid, Farooq Anwar, Inam Ullah, Ansar Ahmad Qidwai, Umer Rashid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2012-08-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: poly(AAm-<em>co</em>-AA)/AlZnFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposite characterization; EDX; FESEM; FTIR; soil amendment; seedling growth
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/8/9397

The use of some novel and efficient crop nutrient-based superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposites (SHNCs), is currently becoming increasingly important to improve the crop yield and productivity, due to their water retention properties. In the present study a poly(Acrylamide-<em>co</em>-acrylic acid)/AlZnFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposite was synthesized and its physical properties characterized using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), FE-SEM and FTIR spectroscopic techniques. The effects of different levels of SHNC were studied to evaluate the moisture retention properties of sandy loam soil (sand 59%, silt 21%, clay 19%, pH 7.4, EC 1.92 dS/m). The soil amendment with 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 w/w% of SHNC enhanced the moisture retention significantly at field capacity compared to the untreated soil. Besides, in a separate experiment, seed germination and seedling growth of wheat was found to be notably improved with the application of SHNC. A delay in wilting of seedlings by 5–8 days was observed for SHNC-amended soil, thereby improving wheat plant growth and establishment.