Source: RENUVIX LLC submitted to NRP
NOVEL BIODEGRADABLE BIOBASED POLYMERS FOR AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1022811
Grant No.
2020-33610-31554
Cumulative Award Amt.
$100,000.00
Proposal No.
2020-00907
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2020
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2021
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[8.4]- Air, Water and Soils
Recipient Organization
RENUVIX LLC
1854 NDSU RESEARCH CIR N
FARGO,ND 58102
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The proper level of nutrients is important for effective crop yields. In modern agriculture, the application of fertilizers is a key part of nutrient management. Often, the high water-solubility and volatility of common fertilizers results in significant losses of nutrients that dramatically reduce the effectiveness of fertilizers. Modification of fertilizer products by applying polymer coatings has been shown to overcome this issue by enabling prolonged nutrient supply. There are many commercial "controlled release fertilizers" (CRFs) that are coated by polymeric coatings. However, despite the improved performance of this family of CRFs, their use is still quite limited due to their high cost and lack of biodegradability of synthetic coatings.Production of polymer-coated CRFs typically involves the use of petroleum-based polymers and additives. Most polymers used in CRFs, such as polyolefins, polyesters, polyurethanes, and polyacrylates lack biodegradability of the coating material, which detracts from their environmental benefits. There is a major need and a significant research effort to develop environmentally friendly biodegradable polymeric coatings for agricultural uses.Renuvix is developing a unique technology that transforms plant-sourced monomers into new biodegradable biobased polymers that make effective water barrier coatings. These coating products offer naturally inherent biodegradability that coincides with the corporate vision of the Renuvix team to bring bio-based and environmentally friendly polymers to the marketplace. The primary objective of the Phase I SBIR project is to demonstrate the feasibility of the biobased biodegradable polymers for the production of novel coatings for controlled release fertilizers.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
60%
Developmental
40%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1025210200070%
1335210200030%
Knowledge Area
133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
5210 - Fertilizers;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The objectives of the Phase I project are the determination of the feasibility to produce coating material using Renuvix biodegradable and biobased polymers and the evaluation of their performance as a barrier coating for the production of urea CRFs.In order to achieve these objectives, a number of technical questions must be answered: 1) Which optimal processing conditions (temperature, reaction time and catalyst) would result in the effective production of biobased polymers? 2) How does the grade of raw materials affect the production process and product quality? 3) How does the product melt viscosity and the molecular weight vary with the composition of the product? 4) How does the polymer composition affect product thermo-mechanical properties? 5) How does the composition of the produced polymers affect their applicability to granular urea using industrialcoating methods? 6) Does urea encapsulated with new biobased polymeric coatings enable prolongedurea release? 7) How does the polymer composition affect the coating biodegradability in soil?
Project Methods
Our initial task will be focused on evaluating the most effective methods and techniques for the synthesis of biobased polymers in a laboratory setting. Process parametersincluding temperature and levels of biobased raw materials will be optimized.Samplesof the reaction mixture will be taken over the course of polymer synthesisto monitor the product yield. If necessary, adjustments to the processwill be made based on the product yield and the reaction kinetics. Synthesized polymers will be characterized fortheir composition using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), molecular weight using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), melt viscosity using viscometer, and thermal properties using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).Coating trials on granular ureawill be conducted using methods known to the industry. Polymer concentrations of 1 to 3% (to the weight of urea) will be applied onto granular urea to target different coating thicknesses. Commercial urea coating products will be used as control samples.Theproduced samples of coated ureawill be evaluated for their urea release characteristics using an established accelerated laboratory test methods based on dissolution in water. Then biodegradabilitywill be performed for selected products using standard testing methods for the aerobic degradation of plastic materials.In the final task, the Renuvix team will conduct reproducibility trials for selected polymers and cost assessment for the technology.

Progress 09/01/20 to 04/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:- Businesses that supply specialty chemicals (dust control coatings, anti-caking coatings, etc) to the fertilizer industry. -Companies that develop slow-release fertilizers - Fertilizer coating companies that are looking for biobased alternatives for petrochemical-based coatings for fertilizers - Research and educational institutions that work directly with farmers and conduct agronomic studies focused on crop fertility, nutrition, soil health improvement, and evaluate new agricultural technologies and products. Changes/Problems:During the coating application trials, the products with a soy fattyacid content of less than70% resulted in the development of excessive tackiness and agglomeration of urea granules. Subsequently, these products were excluded from the testing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Renuvix has discussed the opportunity to conduct agronomic testing for the best performing product at the Carrington Research Extension Center (a part of North Dakota State University). NDSU researchers expressed high interest in testing Renuvix slow-release urea coated with 100% biobased coating on corn and wheat in North Dakota. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All of the technical tasks set to achieve the objectives of the Phase I project have been completed by the project team. Task 1) In our high-throughput syntheses trials the optimal catalytic system was determined and the process temperature was optimized to produce the coating material using a batch process. The target reaction time < 2h is achieved. Task 2) Biobased raw materials from several suppliers were tested. In the same short reaction time (<2h) a few coating products were successfully reproduced without any difference in theirmolecular weight characteristics. Task 3) Compositional changes (the loading of soy triglyceride) in the formula allow precise control over the product molecular weight. Most of the products are low molecular weight oligomers with Mw ranging from 1KDa to 10KDa with melt viscosities in the range of 50-1000 cP which is beneficial for the spray coating application. Task 4) Thermo-mechanical properties are dramatically affected by the formula composition. All coating products are solid at ambient conditions, with an extremum in the melting range at 40-60% of soy fatty acids. Task 5) New soy-based coating products developed were tested as coatings for granular urea at afertilizer coating company. Based on the preliminary results, the products with the highest soy content provide the easiest application due to their low melt viscosity. At the soy fatty acid content below 60-70%, the molten coatings develop tackiness and adhere to the coating equipment during the cooling cycle. To reduce this effect a coating conditioner was applied. Task 6) The produced soy oil-based coatings have shown to provide a great mechanical barrier for urea. Regarding the water barrier protection, the coatings provide partial protection and have to be additionally tailored to meet the targeted water resistance. Samples of coated urea show dissolution rates 0.5-1h at thicknesses as low as 0.75% of coating material. Although these coatings do not meet the standards for the slow-release polymer-coated urea yet, they dramatically reduce dust and improve fertilizer handling. Task 7) The polymer coating composition is the major factor affecting the degradability in soil. Our degradation testing showed that the degradability of hot-melt coatings increases as the soy fatty acid content reaches 40-60%. A further increase in soy fatty acid content results in lowering degradation rate, possibly due to the formation of crystalline domains. Overall, these biobased coatings showed superior degradability.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/20 to 04/30/21

    Outputs
    Target Audience:- Companies that develop slow-release fertilizers - Fertilizer coating companies that are looking for biobased alternatives for petrochemical-based coatings for fertilizers - Research and educational institutions that workdirectly with farmers and conductagronomic studies focused oncrop fertility, nutrition, soil healthimprovement, and evaluatenew agricultural technologies and products. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?With the current state of our developmental trials, Renuvix has discussed the opportunity to conduct agronomic testing for the best performing product at the Carrington Research Extension Center (a part of North Dakota State University). NDSU researchers expressed high interest in testing Renuvix slow-release urea coated with100% biobased coating on corn and wheat. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The remaining 3 tasks of the project will be completed: - the coating application work to produce slow-release urea - the urearelease testing under accelerated conditions (using methods accepted in the fertilizer industry) - the coating biodegradability testing in soil

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? 4 out of the 7 technical tasks set to achieve the objectives of the Phase I project have been completed by the project team. Task 1) In our high-throughput syntheses trials the optimal catalytic system was determined and the process temperature was optimized to produce the coating material using a batch process. The target reaction time < 2his achieved Task 2) Biobased raw materials of different grades are still under investigation Task 3) Compositional changes (the load of soy triglyceride) in the formula allow precise control over the product molecular weight. Most of the products are low molecular weight oligomers with Mw ranging from 1KDa to 10KDa with melt viscosities in the range of 50-1000 cP which is beneficial for spray coating Task 4) Thermo-mechanical properties have found to be dramatically affected by the formula composition. All coating products are solid at ambient conditions, with an extremum inthe melting range at 40-60% of soy fatty acids Task 5) New soy-based coating products developed were sent to a fertilizer coating company for application trials on coated urea. Based on the preliminary results, the products with the highest soy content provide the easiest application due to their low melt viscosity. As the soy fatty acid content drops to 60%, the molten coatings develop tackiness and adhere to the coating equipment during the cooling cycle.The testing of all products is not fully completed yet.

    Publications