Patent ID: 7423090
Filing Date: 2008-09-09
Classification: A01N,C05G,C08F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of forming a superabsorbent polymer product including a bioactive, growth-promoting additive for use in agricultural applications, comprising: combining a grafting reagent and a starch such that the grafting reagent graft polymerizes onto the starch to form a mixture including starch graft copolymers, the starch graft copolymers forming a starch matrix; isolating the starch graft copolymers; forming particles including the starch graft copolymers, the particles sized between about 8 and 25 mesh, wherein forming particles sized between about 8 and 25 mesh comprises extruding the starch graft copolymers into strands and granularizing the strands to form granular, non-powder starch graft copolymer particles sized between about 8 and 25 mesh isolated through screening; applying an alcohol to the strands to reduce tackiness of the extruded strands of the starch graft copolymers, the alcohol chosen from methanol, ethanol, propanol or isopropanol; and adding the bioactive, growth-promoting additive while combining the grafting reagent and the starch to form the starch graft copolymers, such that at least some of the bioactive, growth-promoting additive is entrapped by the starch matrix.