Wood Encapsulated Nano-Keratin Based Slow-Release Fertilizer

The main purpose of a fertilizer is to increase the plants growth and productivity. Due to burst release of chemical fertilizer, soil is polluted where the soil loses its fertility and finally water is also polluted due to leaching along with adverse effects on plant like reduction in productivity, root burn etc. On the other side the poor recyclability of poultry waste Gallus gallus domesticus (feathers) leads to environmental pollution due to the chemical unreactive nature disulphide bond of keratin. Therefore this proposal is a solution to the aforementioned problems which can be achieved by breaking disulphide bond of keratin with reducing agent (NaOH) and coating the synthesized nanokeratin with urea in order to supply nitrogen. This composite is then encapsulated into a coconut spathe for achieving a slow release of nutrients like sulphur, nitrogen to the plants continuously at slow rate without the release of poisonous gases in addition to smooth biodegradability of nanokeratin by soil microbes due to the absence of disulphide bonds removed by hydrolysis.