水膠於土壤保水性及農用化學品傳輸之應用簡介

Introduction to Hydrogels for Water Retention and Delivery of Agrochemicals

全球氣候變遷造成水循環系統改變，目前降雨的多寡和分佈變化影響水資源供應及利用。臺灣水源主要仰賴降雨，然而雨季期間，大部分的雨水都以地表逕流方式，沿著坡面流入溪流、河川、湖泊，而陡峭地形及偏短河川，使河水易流失，在降雨多又集中時，易造成土砂崩落、泥流成災，國土360萬公頃的面積中森林及農業用地覆蓋率分別占58與29%，水資源對植物極為重要，有效利用水資源為重要議題。水膠（Hydrogel）為親水性聚合物組成，具三維網狀結構並能吸收大量水分，其於食品、生物材料、農業、水純化等領域具應用潛力。然而應用於土壤改質的水膠材料以聚丙烯醯胺高分子及其衍生物為主，其分解後單體有毒性，為改善上述問題，水膠研究以生質基材料為方向之一，並將其做為農用化學品傳輸系統之應用。 The global climate change causes the impact of the water cycle and the water resource management. Water resource relies on rainfalls in Taiwan. However, most of the rainwater runoff along the slope fl ow into streams, rivers, lakes and concentrated rainwater lead to mudfl ow. Rainwater run from high mountains in steep courses or lose from short rivers during rainy season. 3.6 million hectares of forest and agricultural coverage is 58 and 29% in Taiwan. Therefore, soil water retention is important property of our environment. Hydrogels are three-dimensional network of hydrophilic polymers which have the ability to imbue a large quantity of water. Hydrogels have wide potential applications in the fi elds of food, biomaterials, agriculture, water purifi cation, etc. The main material of soil conditioners is polyacrylamide. However, acute toxicity of acrylamide was demonstrated. For solving the problems, the materials of water retention and delivery of agrochemicals are used bio-based hydrogels in recent progress.