BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER-NANOPARTICLE COMPOSITES FOR CONTROLLED RELEASE AND TARGETED DELIVERY OF PHOSPHORUS DURING PLANT GROWTH

The long-term goal of this project is to develop a safe and sustainable biopolymer-based nanofertilizer platform for macronutrient delivery in both field and urban agriculture scenarios. Our three objectives are:Obj.1- Identify biodegradation rates and P leaching/retention characteristics of different P-containing biodegradable nanocomposites in different soils. This information will enable us test our hypothesis that P release rates are directly correlated with and controlled by polymer biodegradation and that this mechanistic relationship allows material tunability.Obj.2- Determine the viability of P-containing biodegradable polymer nanocomposites to enhance growth of different crops while minimizing P run off in greenhouse-based plant studies. Obj.3- Validate P-containing biodegradable polymer nanocomposite performance for a range of different crops at field scale.