Use of polyurea from urea for coating of urea granules.

A new type of controlled release fertilizers coated with polyurea was prepared. The granulated urea was firstly changed into a liquid urea by heating as the coating liquid. By spraying uniformly the urea was coated with the polyurea synthesized by the reaction of isocyanates with a liquid urea. The effects of different modifiers on N release characteristics of polyurea-coated urea (PCU) were studied. The morphology and chemical structure of PCU coating materials was investigated by SEM and FTIR. We studied the nitrogen release characteristics of the PCU applied in both water and soil, and the biodegradability of PCU coating after buried in soil. The results showed that PCU reduced nitrogen release rate and exhibited excellent controlled release property. The PCU coating materials could biodegrade in soil. This indicated that the low cost PCU products from urea are expected to use in agricultural and horticultural applications.