JPH0690618A - Artificial soil structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the subject structure containing a hydrophobic layer composed of hydrophobic particles and formed in soil, capable of controlling the water-content in the soil, having excellent water retention and useful for the prevention of desertification and the afforestation of desert, etc. CONSTITUTION:The objective structure contains one or more hydrophobic layers in soil. The hydrophobic layer is composed of hydrophobic particles obtained by treating essentially sand and/or soil particles (having particle diameter of preferably <=2,000mum) with a water-repellent such as silicone or fluorine-based water-repellent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a new and improved artificial soil structure, more specifically, an artificial soil structure capable of mainly controlling the water content in the soil, a method for producing the same, and a soil using the same. The present invention relates to a method for controlling a soil environment, which is characterized by controlling evaporation of moisture in the soil.

The present invention is directed to the prevention of soil desertification, desert greening,
It is particularly effectively used in environmental protection industries such as forest protection, industrial fields such as various agricultural and horticultural fields, and fields such as ground structures such as civil engineering and construction.

[0003]

[Related Art] In recent years, as symbolized by the 1992 Global Environment Summit, there has been a global interest in global environmental issues, and how to protect the global environment has become a global issue. Has become a major industrial technology issue.

For example, the ratio of deserts occupying the land of the world is about 30% at present, but the area thereof continues to increase. There are various causes for this, but human production activities such as environmental pollution such as tree felling and acid rain, large intake of groundwater, abnormal weather that is thought to be caused by ozone layer depletion and carbon dioxide gas increase, etc. There are many things that are based on the environmentally destructive factors that accompany.

On the other hand, the world population is increasing year by year, and it is necessary to prevent desertification of the soil and to revive the dead and dead soil in order to avoid the food crisis in the future due to this population increase. is there.

For the purpose of avoiding the food crisis, efforts have been made to improve the production efficiency by improving the crops themselves by the recent biotechnology. However, in order to improve the production efficiency of agricultural products, it is necessary to improve the soil on which the agricultural products are grown to a soil suitable for various agricultural products. So far, for the purpose of fundamentally improving the soil environment based on the soil structure, attempts have been made to artificially assemble the strata that make up the soil and to fundamentally improve the so-called soil structure itself. It has not reached the stage of practical application.

Further, in the modern society, a large number of structures are constructed by various civil engineering works, construction works, etc., accompanied by population increase. Needless to say that these foundations play an extremely important role in the foundation ground on which they are based, the environmental properties of the soil are fundamentally suitable for the construction in order to maintain a stable foundation ground for many years. So it needs to be improved at the stratum level.

As mentioned above, at present, it is necessary to improve the soil structure in order to make the environmental properties of the soil desirable for human beings at the global environmental level. Often determined by the water content. Therefore, it is first necessary to improve the soil structure so that the water content in the soil can be artificially controlled.

Conventionally, as means for controlling the water content in soil, for example, a soil and a water-retaining polymer compound are mixed, or as disclosed in JP-A-1-319585.
Means for treating the surface of soil with organopolysiloxanes have been proposed.

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present inventors have made extensive studies from the above-mentioned viewpoints of the global environmental level and the like, and as a result, surprisingly, the hydrophobic structure consisting of hydrophobic particles in the soil structure has been found. It was found that the water content in the soil can be controlled by providing the layer, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, the object of the present invention is to provide an artificial soil structure having one or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil, thereby controlling the water content in the soil. For example, in the fields of environmental protection such as soil desertification, desert greening, forest protection, and various other industrial fields such as agriculture and horticulture, and in the field of ground structure such as civil engineering and construction, the soil structure itself is artificial. The above problems are solved by improving the above.

The present invention does not simply improve the surface of the soil as in the prior art, but by providing a hydrophobic layer composed of hydrophobic particles in the structure of the stratum zone constituting the soil,
It is an epoch-making invention that artificially improves the original soil environment of the soil by controlling the water content in the soil.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention has one or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil, as described in claim 1 of the appended claims. An artificial soil structure is provided.

In the present invention, the particle size of the hydrophobic particles is 20.
The artificial soil structure according to claim 1, wherein the artificial soil structure has a size of 00 μm or less.

Furthermore, the present invention provides the artificial soil structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrophobic particles are sand and / or soil particles treated with a water repellent.

The present invention also provides the artificial soil structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrophobic particles are composed of a high molecular polymer.

Further, the present invention provides the artificial soil structure according to claim 3, wherein the water repellent is a silicone or fluorine-based water repellent.

Further, according to the present invention, the soil layer in contact with the hydrophobic layer consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil is a water retaining layer having substantially water retaining property. The artificial soil structure is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, a water retentive layer having substantially water retentivity is provided between a hydrophobic layer composed of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil and a surface of the soil. The present invention provides the artificial soil structure according to item 1.

Further, according to the present invention, the artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein two or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil are provided without contacting each other. It provides the body.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the two or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil have at least two or more different hydrophobicities. The artificial soil structure is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, at least two or more hydrophobic layers having different hydrophobicities are provided in contact with each other out of the two or more hydrophobic layers substantially composed of hydrophobic particles in soil. The artificial soil structure according to any one of items 1 to 9 is provided.

Further, the present invention provides the artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the water-retaining layer having substantially water-retaining property contains a polymer having water-retaining property. To do.

Further, according to the present invention, the nonwoven fabric is provided on the hydrophobic layer consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil.
The artificial soil structure according to any one of 1 above is provided.

Further, the present invention provides a water-repellent sand which is characterized by being treated with a fluorine-based water-repellent agent.

Finally, the present invention provides a method for controlling the soil environment, which comprises controlling the evaporation of water in the soil by using the artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 12. It is provided.

The present invention will be described in detail below. The hydrophobic particles for forming the hydrophobic layer used in the present invention may be in the form of particles having a so-called hydrophobic property, and any material may be used regardless of whether it is an inorganic type or an organic type. It is possible.

Hydrophobicity is a concept including so-called water repellency.

According to the present invention, the hydrophobic layer composed of the hydrophobic particles has at least 1 in the soil structure constituting the soil.
It is necessary to include layers. The soil structure is a soil structure composed of at least two types of strata including a hydrophobic layer composed of the hydrophobic particles of the present invention, and is a soil block having a three-dimensional structure.

The hydrophobic layer of the present invention is essentially composed of hydrophobic particles, and even if particles having other properties are mixed, the hydrophobic property of the layer as a whole is not lost. Is the range. For example, it is also effective to set a hydrophobic layer in which the hydrophobicity is reduced only on a limited portion of a plant planted on the soil surface depending on the purpose.

Further, depending on the application, it is also possible to mix particles having other useful properties with the hydrophobic particles constituting the hydrophobic layer within a range in which the hydrophobic property is not lost in the entire hydrophobic layer. .

The particle system of the hydrophobic particles referred to in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved, but preferably, the average particle size is in view of easy control of water content. It is preferably 2000 μm or less. Furthermore,
Particularly preferably, it is 1000 μm or less.

In the present invention, as the hydrophobic particles, it is practical that the surface of the particles of sand or soil is treated with a water repellent, and these can be used alone or in combination. Treated water repellent sand is preferred.

The water-repellent agent used is not particularly limited as long as it is generally used as a water-repellent agent, but silicone-based and fluorine-based agents are particularly preferable. From the viewpoint of long-term stability, a fluorine type is preferable. Further, a water repellent obtained by mixing a silicone type and a fluorine type can also be used.

Examples of the silicone-based water repellent include silicone compounds represented by the following general formula [Chemical formula 1], which are directly (without solvent) or toluene, xylene,
It is diluted with a solvent such as trichlene or used as an emulsion type. Further, a curing catalyst such as dibutyltin dilaurate, dibutyltin diacetate, dioctyltin laurate, iron octate may be used.

[0036]

Embedded image R ¹ aR ² bSiOx [R ¹ is the same or different, unsubstituted or substituted monovalent hydrocarbon group; R ² is the same or different group selected from a hydrolyzable group, —OH or —H Or an atom; a and b are 0 ≦ a <
4, a number represented by 0 ≦ b ≦ 4, 0 <a + b ≦ 4; x = (4-a−b) / 2. ]

For example, in the general formula [Chemical formula 1], R ¹ is a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group , a decyl group or the like and has 1 carbon atom.
15 alkyl group, a vinyl group, an alkenyl group such as allyl group, an aryl group such as a phenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, CF ₃ CH ₂ CH ₂ - hydrogen atoms bonded to a carbon atom of the above-described alkyl group, such as single It is a group in which a part or all is substituted with a halogen atom or a cyano group.

R ² is a hydrolyzable group such as an alkoxy group, an acyloxy group, a ketoxime group, an amino group, an aminoxy group, an amido group, an enoxy group or an alkenyloxy group, a halogen group such as chlorine, or —OR ³ (R ³ is Na or K), —OH, —H and the like.

As specific silicone compounds, for example, the following compounds represented by [Chemical formula 2] to [Chemical formula 5] are used.

[0040]

Embedded image HO-Si (ONa) (CH ₃ )-[OSi (ONa) CH
₃ ] n-OH (n: 0, 1, 2)

Embedded image CH _3- [SiO (CH ₃ ) ₂ ] _m- [SiO (H) (C
H ₃ )] _l -Si (CH ₃ ) ₃ (l, m: 0 or integer)

Embedded image _{^{R 4 - [SiO (CH 3}} ) 2] k-Si (CH 3) 2 R 4 (K: ^{integer, R 4: -OH, -CH =} CH 2, -OC
H ₃ )

Embedded image CH ₃ SiCl ₃ , C ₁₀ H ₂₁ SiCl ₃ , CF ₃ CH
₂ CH ₂ SiCl ₃ , CH ₃ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ , CF ₃ CH ₂ CH ₂
Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ or partial hydrolyzate or co-hydrolyzate thereof

In addition,

Embedded image A silazane compound of (CH ₃ ) ₃ SiNH—Si (CH ₃ ) ₃ is also useful as the water repellent used in the present invention.

Specific examples of the fluorine-based water repellent include fluorine compounds having a basic structure represented by the following general formulas [Chemical formula 7], [Chemical formula 10] to [Chemical formula 19] and [Chemical formula 22]. Can be mentioned. Further, if necessary, a solution of these fluorine compounds in a solvent or an emulsion thereof may be used. In each formula, l, m, and n are integers.

[0043]

[Chemical 7] However, X is H or CH ₃ , and Y is

[Chemical 8]

[Chemical 9]

[0044]

[Chemical 10]

[0045]

[Chemical 11]

[0046]

[Chemical 12]

[0047]

[Chemical 13]

[0048]

[Chemical 14]

[0049]

[Chemical 15]

[0050]

[Chemical 16]

[0051]

[Chemical 17]

[0052]

[Chemical 18]

[0053]

[Chemical 19] However Y is -OCF ₃ or

[Chemical 20] Or

[Chemical 21]

[0054]

[Chemical formula 22] However, R is a cyclohexyl group or a butyl group.

As a fluorine-based water repellent, organosilane,
Those modified with an organopolysiloxane are also useful, particularly organosilanes containing hydrolyzable groups, OH, H,
Those modified with an organopolysiloxane are particularly effective for obtaining durable water repellency.

Examples of these compounds include

[Chemical formula 23] Such as fluorosilicone (where n is an integer of 6 to 8 and p is
Either 0, 1, 2 or Me is CH₃Represents a group. ) Is listed
To be

Examples of the compound represented by the above general formula [Chemical Formula 23] include:

[Chemical formula 24]

Embedded image A silane compound represented by C ₈ F ₁₇ CH ₂ CH ₂ Si (OMe) ₃ can be given.

Also, like perfluoroacrylate,
Other silanes RSi (OMe) ₃ , R ₂ Si (OMe) ₂ , H.
It may be a copolymer with RSi (OMe) ₂ (where R is an alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms). A copolymer with a long-chain alkylsilane is particularly preferable.

Furthermore,

[Chemical formula 26] When

[Chemical 27] And the like.

As a method of surface-treating particles of sand or soil with a water repellent, a method generally used for surface treatment of powder may be used. For example, hydrophobic particles can be manufactured by mixing various water repellents with sand by a mechanochemical method and performing surface treatment.

In addition to the above-mentioned water repellent sand as the hydrophobic particles, fine particles of a polymer (plastic) having a hydrophobic surface can be used. Among them, organosilicone type is preferable, and polymethylsilsesquioxane is preferable.

Further, it is also possible to use, for example, waste plastic pulverized into particles, whereby the waste plastic can be effectively used and the waste disposal problem of the waste plastic can be solved. It is also possible to use these high molecular weight polymers after water repellent treatment.

In addition to the hydrophobic particles described above as specific examples, for example, hydrophobic granular metal oxides such as silica, alumina, titania, zirconia, vanadium acetate, iron oxide, glass beads, crushed oil shells, Needless to say, hydrophobic particles such as oil sand can also be used, but in particular, those whose surface is treated with a water repellent are more preferable.

In the present invention, it is necessary that at least one layer of the above-mentioned hydrophobic layer is contained in the artificial soil structure, but it is also possible to set a plurality of two or more hydrophobic layers as required.

The plurality of hydrophobic layers may have the same hydrophobicity as the entire layer, or may have different hydrophobicities. Further, they may be present in contact with each other, or may be present via a soil layer which is not a hydrophobic layer composed of hydrophobic particles.

The hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic layer can be arbitrarily adjusted, for example, by changing the type of hydrophobic particles or the thickness of the hydrophobic layer.

That is, the hydrophobic layer made of hydrophobic particles in the soil of the present invention has the following properties depending on the type, size and shape of the hydrophobic particles constituting the soil, the depth from the soil surface and the control rate of water. It may be selected as needed. For example, the hydrophobic strength can be adjusted by appropriately mixing water-repellent sand that is a hydrophobic particle and ordinary sand that is not treated with a water-repellent agent and that is a non-hydrophobic particle.

Further, in the present invention, it is also useful to provide a water retentive layer in which the soil has water retentivity on the hydrophobic layer composed of the hydrophobic particles, or a layer having water retentivity between the hydrophobic layer and the surface of the soil. is there. This water retention layer can be obtained by incorporating an arbitrary water retention agent into the soil. Examples of the water retention agent include water-absorbing polymers, beet moss, inorganic perlite, and bamullite. Such soil structure is particularly useful for plant cultivation.

Further, the artificial soil structure having the nonwoven fabric on the hydrophobic layer has an advantage that non-hydrophobic particles in the ground layer on the hydrophobic layer do not enter into the hydrophobic layer so that the hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic layer does not decrease.

According to the present invention, for example, a hydrophobic layer composed of the above-mentioned hydrophobic fine particles is provided in the soil. However, as compared with the case where the hydrophobic layer is provided on the surface of the soil, the hydrophobic particles are present in the soil. Therefore, there is an advantage in that the hydrophobic particles constituting the hydrophobic layer have excellent durability.

Further, since the hydrophobic particles are present in the soil, the loss of the hydrophobic particles due to the wind can be prevented, and therefore the stability of the hydrophobic layer constituting the soil structure itself is excellent and the loss of the hydrophobic particles can be prevented. Therefore, there is an advantage that the thickness of the hydrophobic layer in the soil structure can be reduced.

Next, in order to produce a soil structure comprising the artificial soil structure of the present invention, for example, the ground is dug into a certain area and depth, and artificially created in a space formed in the ground. It can be manufactured by burying the above-mentioned artificial soil structure and artificially forming a stratum structure having one or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil.

To embed an artificial soil structure, it is sufficient to embed a hydrophobic layer having an arbitrary thickness composed of hydrophobic particles in place of a certain stratum, and the remaining soil layers are, for example, the surrounding natural strata. The same can be done or the above water retention layer can be further buried to produce an artificial soil structure.
The thickness of the hydrophobic layer is appropriately determined depending on the application.

In order to embed a hydrophobic layer composed of hydrophobic particles having an arbitrary thickness, it is sufficient to lay the hydrophobic particles on site,
For example, concretely, sand and a water repellent can be mixed on site using a mixing stirrer of the same type as a concrete mixer, and the sand and water repellent can be excavated and laid in the space formed in the ground. It is also possible to work on the site while water repelling sand using a mixer truck from a liquid chemical manufacturing plant.

It is also possible to fill a cubical container or bag with sand that has been subjected to water repellent treatment in advance at the factory and excavate these so as to sequentially arrange them in the space formed in the ground.

This method enables the thickness of the hydrophobic layer to be accurately and simply constructed, and the artificial soil structure which can be easily obtained by filling the container with water retentive particles and other soil constituent layers such as fertilizer and laying it. The body can be manufactured in any size (area).

The size of the artificial soil structure is not particularly limited, and it goes without saying that the desired width and thickness can be set according to the application. A large container having a certain height is filled with all the artificial soil structure including the hydrophobic layer of the present invention in a factory in advance, and the container is directly excavated to the same depth as the height of the container to be a space of a certain area. It is also possible to line them up.

Further, according to the present invention, without excavating the ground,
On the ground having a finite area, laying the artificial soil structure of the present invention, artificially forming a new stratum structure having a substantially hydrophobic layer on the conventional ground surface to form the soil structure of the present invention. It is also possible to design.

If necessary, it is possible to enclose a certain area of the artificial soil structure with a dome and combine it with the external environment of the artificial atmosphere to form a special growing environment for crops or the like.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and the type of hydrophobic particles, the thickness of the hydrophobic layer, the combination of a plurality of hydrophobic layers, the permutation combination with other soil layers such as the water retention layer, and other external environment The evaporation of water in the target soil can be arbitrarily designed by various factors such as combination to control the water content of the soil structure, thereby enabling a new and useful soil environment control method.

[0081]

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described with reference to examples. The present invention is not limited to this.

[Example 1] Asano silica sand No. 4 (average particle size of about 1000 μm) and Asano silica sand No. 7 (average particle size of about 100 μm)
μm) 0.3% C ₁₀ H ₂₁ Si (C
l) 2.5 kg of ₃ / n-hexane solution was poured, and after stirring, the mixture was left at room temperature for about 12 hours, filtered, washed with water, and dried at 100 ° C. to obtain a silicone-treated hydrophobic silica sand.

Next, three glass containers each having a diameter of 10 cm and a depth of 10 cm were first filled with Asano silica sand No. 4 at a depth of 3.3 c.
The hydrophobic layer was set so as to be m, and 430 g of water was poured into the hydrophobic layer to form a wet layer. Among these three glass containers, as Example 1, as a first embodiment, a layer of the silicon-treated sand Asano silica sand No. 4 obtained above was provided on the wet layer to a depth of 3.3 cm, and asano was further provided thereon. A layer of silica sand No. 4 was provided to have a thickness of 2 cm, and an artificial soil structure at a laboratory level was manufactured in order to confirm the effect of the present invention. This is sample A
And

[Example 2] Silicone-treated sand Asano silica sand No. 4 used in Example 1 was replaced with silicone-treated Asano silica sand No. 7, and the same depth as the silicone-treated sand Asano silica sand No. 4 of Example 1 was used. A hydrophobic layer is provided to be 3.3 cm, and a layer of Asano Quartz No. 4 is further 2 cm on it.
It was provided so that This artificial soil structure is sample B
And

[Comparative Example 1] Silicone-untreated Asano silica sand No. 4 was added in place of the silk cone-treated Asano silica sand of Examples 1 and 2, and a hydrophobic layer was not present and the Asano silica sand layer was 5.3 cm. Layers were provided. This artificial soil structure was used as sample C.

Samples A of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Example 1,
B and C were allowed to stand at room temperature of 30 ° C., and the weight change (water evaporation amount) of each was measured. The measurement result is shown in the graph of FIG. From this graph, it can be understood that the artificial soil structures of the examples of the present invention suppress and control the evaporation of water as compared with the artificial soil structures of the comparative example.

Example 3 Instead of using the silicone-treated sand in Example 1, a granular hydrolyzate of CH ₃ SiCl ₃ , polymethylsilsesquioxane (having a particle size of 80) was used.
(0 μm) was used to manufacture an artificial soil structure in the same manner, and the weight change was measured in exactly the same manner as in Example 1. This artificial soil structure was used as sample D.

Example 4 Instead of using the silicone-treated sand in Example 1, a granular hydrolyzate of CH ₃ SiCl ₃ , polymethylsilsesquioxane (particle size: 10) was used.
(0 μm) was used to manufacture an artificial soil structure in the same manner, and the weight change was measured in exactly the same manner as in Example 1. This artificial soil structure was used as sample E.

[Comparative Example 2] Silicone-untreated Asano silica sand No. 7 was added in place of the silk cone-treated Asano silica sand of Examples 3 and 4, and there was no hydrophobic layer and the Asano silica sand layer was 5.3 cm. Layers were provided. This artificial soil structure was used as sample F.

The measurement results of the respective weight changes (water evaporation amount) are shown in the graph of FIG. From this graph, it can be understood that the artificial soil structures of Examples 3 and 4 of the present invention suppress and control the evaporation of water as compared with the artificial soil structures of the comparative examples.

[Embodiment 5] In Embodiment 1, C ₁₀ H ₂₁
Instead of using a Si (Cl) ₃ / n- hexane solution, b) HO-Si (ONa) ( CH 3) - [OSi (ONa) CH 3] n -
0.5% xylene solution of OH (n: 0, 1, 2 mixture) b) (CH ₃ ) ₃ SiNH—Si (CH ₃ ) ₃ 0.5% xylene solution, c) CH ₃ Si 0.5 of a partial hydrolyzate of (OCH ₃ ) ₃ (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd .: product name: KC-89)
% Xylene solution, the artificial soil structure of the present invention is prepared in the same manner, and each sample is a): G, b): H, c): I at 30 ° C.
The sample was allowed to stand at room temperature and the weight change (water evaporation amount) was measured.

The results of this measurement are shown in the graph of FIG. From this graph, G and I show almost the same results, and the artificial soil structures of any of the examples suppress and control the evaporation of water as compared with the artificial soil structure of Comparative Example C. It can be understood.

[Example 6] A silicone water repellent (trade name "Polon-MR" (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.)) and a fluorine water repellent (trade name "AG710" (manufactured by Asahi Kasei Corporation) were used. prepare.

1 kg of No. 7 silica sand was placed in a 5 liter mortar mixer, and the above silicone water repellent and fluorine water repellent were prepared so that the solid content concentration was 2.5%. It is dripped at and stirred, and dried at 150 ° C. for 2 hours. Finally, water-repellent sand adjusted to have a water-repellent agent of 0.2% with respect to silica sand is obtained.

No. 4 silica sand (150 g) and water (40 g) were added to form a wetting layer, on which the silicone-based water repellent sand and the fluorine-based water repellent sand separately prepared were respectively 75 g or 15
Put 0g. This was aged in a hot air circulation type dryer at 40 ° C., the change with time of the evaporation amount of water vapor was measured, and the permeation amount of water vapor was compared. The results are shown in Table 1.

As can be seen from Table 1, there is no difference in the amount of water vapor that penetrates the water repellent sand layer between the silicone water repellent sand and the fluorine water repellent sand, and it was confirmed that the same effect can be obtained.

[0097]

[Table 1]

[Example 7] The silicone-based and fluorine-based water-repellent sands prepared in Example 6 were dipped in three standard solutions of pH 4, 7, 10 and aged in an atmosphere of 50 ° C for a long time to repell them. Aqueous property was measured and durability was evaluated. The results are shown in Table 2. However, in the table, A to E indicate the following evaluations. A: Water repellent with 60% methanol B: Water repellent with 40% methanol C: Water repellent with 20% methanol D: Water repellent with water E: Not water repellent

As can be seen from Table 2, the water-repellent sand prepared by using the fluorine-based water repellent is superior to the case using the silicone-based water repellent in terms of durability of water repellency.

[0100]

[Table 2]

According to the above-mentioned examples, the artificial soil structure of the present invention can control the water content in the soil, and when it is scaled up, the soil structure can be improved at the global environment level.

[0102]

According to the present invention, by providing an artificial soil structure capable of controlling the water content in soil, for example, environmental protection industries such as soil desertification, desert greening, forest protection, and various agriculture. And in the field of horticulture and other industrial fields, as well as in the field of civil engineering, construction and other ground structures,
The soil structure itself can be artificially modified to suit each application.

Further, according to the method for producing an artificial soil structure of the present invention, a wide range of artificial soil structures can be obtained by a relatively easy method, and soil improvement can be efficiently achieved.

Further, according to the soil environment control method of the present invention, it is possible to easily adjust and design soil moisture suitable for the intended use in advance, and various environmental protection measures can be taken on a global environmental scale. The contribution of the present invention to the modern society is extremely high, because it is possible to improve crops and crops, and strengthen the ground such as structures.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing changes with time of Example 1, Example 2 and Comparative Example 1 due to evaporation of water.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing changes over time in Example 3, Example 4 and Comparative Example 2 due to evaporation of water.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing changes over time in Example 5 and Comparative Example 1 due to evaporation of water.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Example 1 B Example 2 C Comparative Example 1 D Example 3 E Example 4 F Comparative Example 2 G Example 5 H Example 5 I Example 5

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Nishimura 2-6-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A soil consisting essentially of hydrophobic particles 1
Or artificial soil structure having two or more hydrophobic layers 2. The artificial soil structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic particles have a particle diameter of 2000 μm or less. 3. The artificial soil structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic particles are sand and / or soil particles treated with a water repellent. 4. The artificial soil structure according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic particles are composed of a high molecular polymer. 5. The artificial soil structure according to claim 3, wherein the water repellent agent is a silicone-based or fluorine-based water repellent agent. 6. The artificial soil according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the soil layer in contact with the hydrophobic layer consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil is a water retaining layer having substantially water retaining ability. Structure 7. The water-retaining layer having substantially water-retaining property is provided between the hydrophobic layer consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in the soil and the surface of the soil. Artificial soil structure described in 8. A substantially hydrophobic particle in soil 2
The artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the above hydrophobic layers are provided without being in contact with each other. 9. A method comprising substantially hydrophobic particles in soil 2
The artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the hydrophobic layer has at least two different hydrophobicities. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least two or more hydrophobic layers having different hydrophobicities are provided in contact with each other out of the two or more hydrophobic layers consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil. The artificial soil structure according to any one of items 11. The substantially water-retaining water-retaining layer contains a water-retaining polymer.
11. The artificial soil structure according to any one of 1 to 10. 12. The artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a nonwoven fabric is provided on a hydrophobic layer consisting of substantially hydrophobic particles in soil. 13. A water-repellent sand characterized by being treated with a fluorine-based water-repellent agent. 14. A method for controlling a soil environment, which comprises using the artificial soil structure according to any one of claims 1 to 12 to control evaporation of water in the soil.