Effect of Functionalised and Non-Functionalised Carbon Nanotubes-Urea Fertilizer on the Growth of Paddy

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Norazlina Mohamad Yatim
Azizah Shaaban
Mohd Fairuz Dimin
Faridah Yusof
Jeefferie Abd Razak

Abstract

The roles of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (fMWNTs) in enhancing the efficacy of urea fertilizer (UF) as plant nutrition for local MR219 paddy variety was investigated. The MWNTs and fMWNTs were grafted onto UF to produce UF-MWNTs fertilizer with three different conditions, coded as FMU1 (0.6 wt. % fMWNTs), FMU2 (0.1 wt. % fMWNTs) and MU (0.6 wt. % MWNTs. The batches of MR219 paddy were systematically grown in accordance to the general practice performed by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). The procedure was conducted using a pot under exposure to natural light at three different fertilization times; after a certain number of days of sowing (DAS) at 14, 35 and 55 days. Interestingly, it was found that the crop growth of plants treated with FMU1 and FMU2 significantly increased by 22.6% and 38.5% compared to plants with MU addition. Also, paddy treated with FMU1 produced 21.4% higher number of panicles and 35% more grain yield than MU while paddy treated with FMU2 gave 28.6% more number of panicles and 36% higher grain yield than MU, which implies the advantage of fMWNTs over MWNTs to be combined with UF as plant nutrition. The chemical composition and morphology of UF-MWNTs fertilizers which is further characterised by FTiR and FESEM confirmed the successful and homogeneous grafting of UF onto the fMWNTs.


 


Peranan tabung karbon nano berdinding banyak (MWNTs) dan functionalised tabung karbon nano berdinding banyak (fMWNTs) dalam meningkatkan keberkesanan baja urea (UF) untuk pertumbuhan MR219 padi tempatan diselidiki. MWNTs dan fMWNTs telah digabungkan dengan UF untuk menghasilkan baja urea-tabung karbon nano berdinding banyak (UF-MWNTs) dengan tiga keadaan yang berbeza, dikodkan sebagai FMU1 (0.6 wt.% fMWNTs), FMU2 (0.1 wt.% fMWNTs) dan MU (0.6 wt.% MWNTs. Padi MR219 telah ditanam secara sistematik mengikut prosedur yang dilakukan oleh Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI). Prosedur ini dijalankan di dalam pot di bawah pendedahan cahaya matahari secara semula jadi dengan teknik pembajaan sebanyak tiga kali, selepas tabur (HLT) iaitu pada 14, 35 dan 55 hari. Menariknya, didapati bahawa pertumbuhan padi dengan pembajaan FMU1 dan FMU2 telah meningkat dengan ketara sebanyak 22.6% dan 38.5% berbanding pertumbuhan padi dengan pembajaan MU. Juga, padi yang dibaja dengan FMU 1 menghasilkan 21.4% bilangan tangkai yang lebih tinggi dan hasil bijirin 35% lebih tinggi daripada MU, manakala padi yang dibaja dengan FMU 2 memberikan nilai 28.6% dan 36% lebih tinggi jumlah tangkai dan hasil bijirin daripada MU. Ini telah menunjukkan kelebihan fMWNTs ke atas MWNTs untuk digabungkan dengan UF sebagai baja. Komposisi kimia dan kajian morfologi UF-MWNTs yang telah dicirikan oleh FTIR dan FESEM menunjukkan kejayaan dan kesebatian campuran gabungan UF dengan fMWNTs.


 


 

Article Details

How to Cite
Effect of Functionalised and Non-Functionalised Carbon Nanotubes-Urea Fertilizer on the Growth of Paddy. (2018). Tropical Life Sciences Research, 29(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.21315/tlsr2018.29.1.2
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Original Article