DEVELOP SMART BIOCHAR-BASED CONTROL RELEASE NITROGEN FERTILIZERS TO IMPROVE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF CORN PRODUCTION

Theproject goal is to developa smart biochar-basedcontrolled-release nitrogen fertilizer (BCRNF)technologyand elucidate the technical efficacy and fundamental mechanism.Biochar,abyproductof solid residue resulting from various biomass thermochemical processes in bioprocessing and bioenergy industries,will be used as carrier for the BCRNF fabrication.Biochar will be mixedwith N fertilizers (e.g., urea, ammonium sulfate, etc.) toimpregnate N nutrientsand then pelletized into small particles with diameter of 3 mm and length less than 5 mm, followed by encapsulating a "smart" coating layer of lignocellulosic composite, which is produced from agricultural residues and can respondto the soil conditions of rhizosphere, such as moisture content, temperature, or pH value. The combination of biochar absorption and adsorption characteristics and the sensitive coating layer makes the BCRNF a "smart" fertilizer, whichcan timelycontrol N release to improve corn growth.ThisBCRNF technologyis expected toeffectively controlN release to synchronize with the N demand of corn growth while significantly reducing N loss and minimizing environmental impact.Critically integrating bioprocessing and bioenergy production with uses of renewable bio-based materials to fabricate BCRNF make this approach economically feasible and environmentally friendly. Fourspecificobjectives will be accomplishedto achievetheproject goal:Obective 1:develop an effective prototype of BCRNF for identification of controllable N release mechanism.Obective 2: evaluate the effectiveness of BCRNF on corn growth via greenhouse trials.Obective 3: optimize the fabrication process to produce affordable BCRNF for improving profitability of corn production.Obective 4: examine the influences of BCRNF application on water quality.