Evaluation of the Soil Moisture-Regulating Performance of the Palygorskite-Polyacrylamide Water-Conducting Material

Properly timed irrigation is crucial for ensuring the survival of drought-tolerant plants in water-scarce regions. Water-conducting materials of which water flux is self-tunable will optimize water distribution throughout desertification reclaim and thus benefit ecological rehabilitation. In this work, a water-conducting material consisting of palygorskite and polyacrylamide has been prepared, and its water transport properties as well as soil moisture regulation performance have been investigated. The results demonstrate that the shrinking and swelling of palygorskite as well as polyacrylamide clusters encourage and hinder water transport to the soil, respectively. Benefited from the low expansion ratio of palygorskite, the water transport efficiency under increased soil moisture is 51% lower compared to the previous water-conducting material composed of montmorillonite. The current water-conducting material demonstrates a maximum 25% enhancement in response intensity in water flux variation when addressing decreasing soil moisture compared to the previous version. Furthermore, it reduces total water consumption by 41% for maintaining ideal soil moisture levels for plant growth when benchmarked against systems without water-conducting materials. These advantages suggest that the new water-conducting material holds greater potential for achieving long-term, well-timed, water-saving irrigation across soils with varying moisture levels in desertification areas.