Method of Manufacturing a Biodegradable Polymeric Nutrient Releasing Material, and Articles and Containers Made Therefrom

Abstract

A nutrient-releasing tray (10) for plant growth, comprising a master tray (12) with a water container (14) and a cover element (16) featuring spaced receptacles for receiving plant holders (14) having lower portions thereof submerged in water. The trays (10) are made from a polymeric composite material manufactured by heating 80 ml of distilled water to 80-90° C., adding 20 g of PVA while stirring, separately dissolving 12.5 g of chitosan in 50 ml of 1% lactic acid solution, separately prepare a slurry of 10 g of starch, dissolving 7.5 g of PVP in distilled water, to the PVA-chitosan mixture, the starch slurry and PVP solution were added, next 5 g of glycerol is added, ZnO nanoparticles (25 mg for a total volume of 100 ml) were pre-dispersed in a glycerol or water (5-10 ml) and added to the mixture and the volume adjusted to 100 ml using distilled water.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.