Shrimp-shell gel holds 17 times its weight in water then biodegrades
Morales J, Vásquez A, Orellana Catalán IP
Soil Health
Tucking a pinch of this gel into a container or raised bed before a hot stretch could keep roots moist through a dry week without daily watering, and it dissolves into the soil rather than leaving plastic residue behind.
Scientists combined two natural materials, a fiber found in shrimp shells and another from plant cell walls, to create a sponge-like gel. The gel soaks up roughly 16-17 times its own weight in water or liquid fertilizer and then releases it slowly. After two weeks buried in soil, nearly 80% of it had broken down completely, leaving nothing harmful behind.
Key Findings
The gel absorbed 15.8x its weight in water and 17.2x its weight in a urea fertilizer solution, qualifying as 'super absorbent' in both.
79.1% of the material biodegraded within 14 days in soil, confirming full breakdown on a short timescale.
Within 2 hours of contact, the gel had taken up 48.3% of its maximum water capacity, showing fast initial absorption relevant to irrigation timing.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers made a biodegradable super-absorbent gel from shrimp shell waste and plant-derived cellulose that can hold many times its weight in water or liquid fertilizer, then slowly break down in soil within two weeks.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Preparation and physicochemical characterization of a biodegradable chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel synthesized in NaOH/urea medium.
The use of super absorbent polymers in agriculture for water and fertilizers retention in soils has become popular with the increasing need for resource optimization. The objective of the present s...
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