Development of Biodegradable PLA/PBAT-Based Filaments for Fertilizer Release for Agricultural Applications.

The aim of this work was to produce filaments of PLA/PBAT and NPK fertilizer adsorbed on organophilized bentonite intended for application in the prototyping of biodegradable agricultural artifacts in 3D printing, using the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique. This is the first time that we have reported this composite for a 3D printing approach. Systems containing PLA/PBAT, organobentonite and NPK were initially processed in an internal mixer and later extruded as filaments in a single-screw extruder.