Method of amending soil using an amine-functionalized natural clay

Abstract

A method of soil amendment includes treating montmorillonite (MMT) clay with an inorganic acid to form a treated clay with greater surface area and porosity than the MMT. The method further includes mixing tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) with the treated clay to form a soil amendment. The soil amendment includes TEPA in an amount of 10 to 50 wt. % based on the weight of the soil amendment. The method further includes mixing the soil amendment with the soil to form a plant growth substrate. The plant growth substrate is capable of improving the plant growth rate in comparison to the soil without soil amendment. The soil with the soil amendment has a plant growth rate greater than the plant growth rate of the soil in the absence of the soil amendment.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.