Novel Biodegradable Biobased Polymers for Agricultural Applications

The proper level of nutrients is important for effective crop yields. In modern agriculture theapplication of fertilizers is a key part of nutrient management. Often the high water-solubility andvolatility of common fertilizers results in significant losses of nutrients that dramatically reduce theeffectiveness of fertilizers. Modification of fertilizer products by applying polymer coatings hasbeen shown to overcome this issue by enabling prolonged nutrient supply. There are manycommercial "controlled release fertilizers" (CRFs) that are coated by polymeric coatings. Howeverdespite the improved performance of CRFs their use is still quite limited due to their high cost andthe lack of biodegradability of synthetic coatings for CRFs.Production of polymer-coated CRFs typically involves the use of petroleum-based polymers andadditives. Most polymers used in CRFs such as polyolefins polyesters polyurethanes andpolyacrylates inhibit the biodegradability of the coating material which detracts from theirenvironmental benefits. There is a major need and a significant research effort to developenvironmentally friendly biodegradable polymeric coatings for agricultural uses.Renuvix is developing a unique technology that transforms plant-sourced monomers into newbiodegradable biobased polymers that show the potential to be effective barrier coatings forenhanced efficiency fertilizers. These coating products offer naturally inherent biodegradability thatcoincides with the corporate vision of Renuvix team to bring bio-based and environmentallyfriendly polymers to the marketplace. The primary objective of the Phase I SBIR project is todemonstrate the feasibility of the biobased biodegradable polymers for the production of novelcoatings for controlled release fertilizers.