Humic acid-modified bentonite composite material enhances urea-nitrogen use efficiency.

Bentonite was modified by introducing humic acid (HA) into interlayer space of bentonite. The structural and physicochemical properties of modified bentonite were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that HA could enter the bentonite interlayer and increase the interlayer distance. Moreover, we were also investigated the high adsorption capacity and thermodynamics of modified bentonite to NH4+ cations in solutions. Under the same conditions, the NH4+ adsorption efficiency of modified bentonite (96.4%) was 69.2% higher compared with the natural bentonite (57.0%). The pseudo-second order kinetic model well fit the adsorption kinetics of NH4+ on modified bentonite, indicating that the adsorption type was chemical adsorption or chemisorptions. The isotherms fit well with Langmuir model, and the separation factor revealed that NH4+ on modified bentonite belonged to favorable adsorption. Compared with the natural bentonite, the modified bentonite exhibited a much lower leaching loss of NH4+-N and NO3--N in soil. Meanwhile, the loss of nitrogen caused by NH3 volatilization and N2O emission from soil could also be significantly attenuated by the combined application of modified bentonite and urea. The slower nitrogen release in the treatment combining modified bentonite and urea resulted in a greater yield and nitrogen uptake of wheat. Collectively, the modified bentonite could be used as nitrogen fertilizer synergist to enhance the nitrogen use efficiency.