Potential of Cellulose-Based Superabsorbent Hydrogels as Water Reservoir in Agriculture

By Christian Demitri, F. Scalera, M. Madaghiele, A. Sannino, A. Maffezzoli. 2013

238 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The present work deals with the development of a biodegradable superabsorbent hydrogel, based on cellulose derivatives, for the optimization of water resources in agriculture, horticulture and, more in general, for instilling a wiser and savvier approach to water consumption. The sorption capability of the proposed hydrogel was firstly assessed, with specific regard to two variables that might play a key role in the soil environment, that is, ionic strength and pH. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation of the hydrogel potential as water reservoir in agriculture was performed by using the hydrogel in experimental greenhouses, for the cultivation of tomatoes. The soil-water retention curve, in the presence of different hydrogel amounts, was also analysed. The preliminary results showed that the material allowed an efficient storage and sustained release of water to the soil and the plant roots. Although further investigations should be performed to completely characterize the interaction between the hydrogel and the soil, such findings suggest that the envisaged use of the hydrogel on a large scale might have a revolutionary impact on the optimization of water resources management in agriculture.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Medicine, Soil Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/67d9dc88895fa1954232dca39784bde242303f16

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In Biomedical Engineering

In Molecular Medicine

Citations in the corpus

Classification, processing and application of hydrogels: A review. (2015, background): “[104] investigated the applicability of cellulose-based hydrogels in three different formulations, i.”
Superabsorbent hydrogels based on polysaccharides for application in agriculture as soil conditioner and nutrient carrier: A review (2015, background): “Demitri et al. [182] investigated the applicability of the cellulose-based SH in three different formulations, crosslinked by carbodiimide, as a carrier vehicle for sustained and controlled release of water and nutrients in arid and desert areas.”