Agricultural Waste Research Articles

Hydrolysis products of agricultural waste can serve as microbial fertilizer enhancers to promote the growth of maize crops

Efficient utilization of agricultural wastes and reduction of chemical fertilizer inputs are crucial for sustainable development of agriculture. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are widely used as biofertilizers to partially replace chemical fertilizers in agricultural production. The functional performance of PGPR strains is closely related to their root colonization capacity. Some organic acids from root exudates can recruit PGPR to colonize the root. In this study, agricultural organic wastes such as mushroom bran and tobacco waste materials were used to produce organic acids through the hypoxic hydrolysis process. The hydrolysis conditions were optimized to maximize the production of a mixture of complex organic acids from the hypoxic hydrolysis of these materials, employing both single-factor and orthogonal experimental methods. The diluted hydrolysates were tested for their effects on the rhizosphere colonization of the PGPR strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9 using fluorogenic quantitative PCR in greenhouse pot experiments. The results demonstrated that hypoxic hydrolysates from tobacco waste and mushroom bran significantly enhanced the colonization of SQR9 in the maize rhizosphere. Specifically, a 2000-fold dilution of tobacco waste hydrolysate yielded the most effective result, while a 5000-fold dilution of mushroom bran hydrolysate provided the best outcome. All treatments combining these hydrolysates with SQR9 significantly increased maize stem dry weight, indicating that with appropriate treatment, such as anaerobic fermentation, these agricultural organic wastes can serve as synergistic agents of microbial fertilizers, contributing to agricultural sustainability.

A preliminary investigation of banana pseudo-stem (Musa cavendish) for pulp and paper production: morphology, chemical composition, FTIR, XRD and thermogravimetric analysis

Abstract In today’s world, the use of paper and cardboard increasing but the availability of raw materials and the environmental impact on the paper industry is a big concern. To address these concerns, researchers are exploring the potential of agricultural waste products as raw materials for pulp production. This study uses morphological, chemical composition, FTIR, XRD, and thermogravimetric analysis to examine the potential of banana pseudo-stem as a raw material for paper pulp to address environmental concerns and raw material shortages in the paper industry. The study reveals favorable characteristics for papermaking, including long fiber length (1750 μm), thin cell wall thickness (9.7 μm), and large lumen diameter (22.15 μm). The chemical composition of banana pseudo-stem contains cellulose (44.93 %), hemicellulose (23.7 %), and Klason lignin (11.1) showing its suitability for pulp production. FTIR analysis highlights the functional groups present on the banana pseudo-stem. The XRD analysis shows that it has a similar cellulosic peak and crystallinity index with common raw materials used in pulp production. The thermogravimetric analysis shows that the banana pseudo-stem has high thermal stability. The findings demonstrate that banana pseudo-stem, both by itself and in combination with other raw materials, might be a potential raw material for the pulp production.

VERMICULTURE AND VERMICOMPOSTING: TWIN EARTHWORM TECHNOLOGIES, SUITABLE FOR HOUSEHOLDS AND SMALLHOLDER FARMERS TO CONVERT WASTES TO WEALTH – A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Many smallholder farmers in developing countries face interconnected challenges, including poor soil fertilisation, low agricultural output, and inefficient conversion of agricultural wastes into biofertilisers, all of which can be sustainably addressed through vermiculture and vermicomposting—twin earthworm-based technologies. This review aims to explore vermiculture and vermicomposting, their interconnections, and key optimisation factors, while also guiding smallholder farmers on setting up simple vermiculture and vermicomposting units using locally sourced materials. A wide literature search was conducted across databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, focusing on vermiculture, vermicomposting and earthworm utilisation in waste management. From an initial pool of articles, 35 studies were selected for their relevance, empirical data, and rigorous methodology. Findings show that earthworms' natural behaviours, such as burrowing, soil ingestion, excretion and rapid reproduction, are exploited by vermiculture and vermicomposting to produce both earthworm mass and vermicompost, a sustainable and efficient biofertilizer. Vermiculture focuses on maximising earthworm harvest, with vermicompost as a secondary product, while vermicomposting aims to maximise vermicompost production, often resulting in increased earthworm mass. Vermicomposting units can be constructed from locally available materials, including wood, organic and agricultural wastes, and earthworm food sources, like fermented cow and sheep dung. The review assesses the potential of these technologies for small-scale farms, emphasising their feasibility and benefits in resource-limited settings. Since low agricultural output by smallholder farmers is partly traceable to unaffordable costs of chemical fertilisers, this review will draw attention to the use of vermicompost as a cheap and sustainable alternative

In-Situ construction of Bulge-like microstructures in sugarcane-based superhydrophobic membranes for efficient separation of water-in-oil emulsions

The separation of oil/water pollution is of great importance to environmental protection. However, the development of superwetting materials for efficient separation of surfactant-stabilized oil/water emulsions still faces challenges. As agricultural waste, sugarcane straw contains many hydrophilic groups and multilayered pore structures, making it suitable for purifying oil/water emulsions by simple chemical modification treatments. Herein, sugarcane-based superhydrophobic membranes (SSMs) were prepared by a facile vacuum impregnation method in hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) solution. The unique bulge-like microstructures were constructed in the intrinsic pores of sugarcane, which significantly increased the roughness and resulted in superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 153.5°. More importantly, the bulge-like structure is easy to break the emulsion and thus SSMs offer excellent separation efficiency (> 99 %), suitable fluxes (368 L•m−2•h−1) and strong cycling stability for surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions. In addition, SSMs can separate oil/water mixtures and directly adsorb oil from water with adsorption rates exceeding 99 %. SSMs have good durability and anti-mold adherence properties, and they do not lose their unique wetting properties even in harsh environments. More importantly, SSMs can be degraded in soil at the end of their life cycle, avoiding secondary pollution for the environment. This simple, in-situ impregnation technique offers a novel way to create green, inexpensive and stable biomass membranes for effective water-in-oil emulsion separation, showing great promise for use in oily wastewater treatment.

Crude oil sorption performance of native and acetylated Siamese senna seed pods

The recurring problem of oil spillage has directed research to the exploration of various agricultural wastes in order to discover new, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly oil sorbents. This research studied the viability of native and acetylated seed pods of Siamese senna as oil spill mop. SEM, BET, and FTIR analyses were employed to assess the adsorption tendency of the adsorbents for crude oil. Investigation of the oil sorption behaviors of the adsorbents involved batch sorption experiments. The SEM analysis revealed improvements in the surface morphology of the acetylated pods. The BET surface area increased from 265.2 m2/g to 335.0 m2/g after acetylation. The FTIR spectra of the oil-treated pods showed that the acetylated pods adsorbed more oil than the native pods. The Langmuir isotherm best described the sorption equilibrium for the adsorbents. Kinetic analysis showed that the sorption processes conformed to the pseudo-second-order model, and were controlled by film diffusion alone or in conjunction with other mechanisms. The results obtained in this work show that Siamese senna seed pods can be used for crude oil sorption from an aqueous medium. The improved oil sorption capacity of the acetylated pod shows that it has more potential to serve as a low-cost alternative for oil spill remediation than the native seed pod.

Insights into potential of banana leaf powder as a mud soil stabilizer

This study proposes a novel method for managing surplus soil in urban construction projects by investigating the use of banana leaf powder (BLP) as an eco-friendly and efficient mud-soil stabilizer. This study is pioneering in its focus on the use of an agricultural waste product, BLP, as an alternative to conventional methods that frequently rely on cement or lime, which pose environmental concerns owing to their high alkalinity and carbon emissions. BLP, derived from dried and pulverized banana leaves, traditionally used in various industries, was evaluated for its suitability as a stabilizer against orange peel biopolymer (OBP) and fly ash (FA). The findings of this study are groundbreaking. BLP's water absorption capacity, Wab, although lower than that of OBP, was significantly higher than that of FA, demonstrating its potential as a mud soil stabilizer. BLP increased the compaction and strength of the treated clay, whereas OBP made it more challenging to compact the clay owing to gelatinization. The ease of compaction with BLP is attributed to the absorption of free water into the pores of the particles. These results suggest that differences in the stabilizer's water absorption mechanism affect the effectiveness of the post-treatment compaction process on the treated soil. An analysis of the impact of water absorption capacity on the cone index, qc, revealed a material-independent relationship between the parameter β (=Wab × A, where A denotes stabilizer addition content) and qc for BLP and FA. This is because, in contrast to OBP, BLP and FA did not gelatinize the free water that was not absorbed by the stabilizer and remained in the same form within the treated clay. This indicates that understanding the water absorption capacity and mechanism of organic- or inorganic-based stabilizers is important for predicting the strength of treated soil. The same relationship between β and qc holds true for the hybrid-treated clay using both BLP and FA, with β considered to be the sum of β for both BLP and FA. Furthermore, this study innovatively addresses the concern of BLP decay in treated soil by creating a hybrid stabilizer with FA and conducting experiments to accelerate BLP decay using fungal mycelia. These experiments revealed that the hybrid-treated clay exhibited a more gradual decrease in carbon content and stabilized pH levels, implying that FA could inhibit decay by fungal mycelia, improving the BLP-treated soil's long-term durability. These findings suggest that agricultural wastes with high organic content can be effectively used for soil stabilization and ground improvement in civil engineering construction and maintenance projects by combining inorganic materials and taking advantage of their properties, such as high water absorbency. This can address the issues (such as high alkalinity and high carbon dioxide emissions) associated with cement- and lime-based stabilizers, which were previously widely used.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of bio-based composite utilizing citrus waste: a comparative study

Citrus fruits as typical agricultural processing wastes were used as sources and raw materials to extract the highly value-added compounds such as pectin, cellulose, lignin and phenols. These chemical compounds were investigated and used to develop novel bio-based materials specifically for plastic and packaging applications in a vast field industry. The properties, bonding and chemical composition of the biocomposites from various studies were comparatively investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results showed that hydrogen bonding, carbonyl groups, alkyl and aromatic ring of lignin and several minor chemical compounds present in the citrus wastes composite illustrate the unique properties, ability and potential materials as guidance in producing the desired products.

Genetics, age, and diet influence gut bacterial communities and performance of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens)

BackgroundThe gut microbiota of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens) play a crucial role in recycling various organic waste streams. This capability is linked to the presence of a potential common core microbiota in BSFL. However, subjective thresholds for defining core taxa and the difficulty of separating genetic and environmental influences have prevented a clear consensus in the literature. We analysed the gut bacterial communities of two genetically distinct BSF lines (wild type (WT) and lab-adapted line (LD)) raised on ten different diets based on common agricultural by-products and food waste in Southeast Asia.ResultsHigh-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that gut bacterial communities were significantly influenced by genetics (p = 0.001), diet (plant/meat-dominated; p = 0.001), larval age (p = 0.001), and the interactions between all three (p = 0.002). This led us to investigate both common core taxa and lineage-specific core taxa. At a strict > 97% prevalence threshold, four core taxa were identified: Providencia_A_732258, an unclassified genus within the family Enterococcaceae, Morganella, and Enterococcus_H_360604. A relaxed threshold (> 80% prevalence) extended the core to include other potential common core taxa such as Klebsiella, Proteus, and Scrofimicrobium. Our data suggest that Proteus, Scrofimicrobium, Corynebacterium, Vagococcus_B, Lysinibacillus_304693 (all LD), and Paenibacillus_J_366884 (WT) are lineage-specific rather than members of a common core (> 90% prevalence in either LD or WT, with prevalence significantly different between lines (p ≤ 0.05)). Positive correlations were observed between several core genera and larval performance in LD, typical of a highly optimized lab-adapted line. Interestingly, only members of the genus Providencia appeared to play a crucial role in most aspects of larval performance in both genetic lineages.ConclusionOur study demonstrates that the gut microbiota of BSFL is influenced by genetic factors, diet composition, larval age, and their interactions. We identified a distinct lineage-specific core microbiota, emphasizing genetic background’s role. Future studies should apply a standardized high prevalence threshold of at least > 90% unless there is a valid reason for relaxation or sample exclusion. The consistent association of Providencia spp. with larval performance across both genetic lines highlights their crucial role in the BSFL gut ecosystem.

The factors influencing waste management for economic development—the perspective of Nelson Mandela bay municipality residents

The rapid increase in volume and variety of solid waste as a result of continuous economic growth, urbanization, and industrialization has become an intractable problem for the public and private sectors, making it difficult to ensure effective and sustainable waste management. The study sought to understand the perspective of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal residents on their perceived influence of municipal waste management on economic development. The study used a quantitative techniques approach, with a structured questionnaire. Data was collected from 255 respondents. The quantitative question aimed to determine if the influence was positive or negative, and the Likert scale question had a scale of 1 to 5. This research identified various types of waste, assessed challenges, and evaluated waste's potential for resource creation. The study concluded that municipal waste includes organic, paper, plastic, metal, glass, food, garden, hazardous, construction, demolition, and non-recyclable waste. Environmental pollution is a major challenge, and 26 factors positively influence waste to wealth. Waste to wealth can be achieved through social behavior, education/knowledge, MSWM governance, and economic feasibility for MSWM. The research also highlighted the importance of land attributes, budget allocation, trained personnel, and government regulations. The framework proposed aims to minimize urban poverty while preserving the environment and supporting the present urban economy. Urban communities can utilize solid waste management as a mechanism to foster economic development. The fundamental question is whether stakeholders will continue to ignore waste's potential demands and benefits for urban economic growth.

Rice husk-derived self-healing superhydrophobic films using solvent-less approach for drag reduction and oil absorption behaviour

The present work focuses on a sustainable approach to transform rice-husk waste into self-healing superhydrophobic films with potential application for drag-reduction and oil absorption. Rice husk was transformed into amorphous nano silica particles (d50 ∼ 150 nm) exhibiting mesoporosity with a surface area of 400 m2/g. Superhydrophobic films fabricated using a solvent-less approach showed the transition from flattened to nano-globular morphology with increasing silica content in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), leading to exceptional superhydrophobicity. The optimized film with a particle fraction of 60 % exhibited high de-wetting (> 150º) and mechanical strength (∼7 MPa). The film showed extremely low water droplet adhesion of ∼19 μN, similar to lotus leaf owing to high negative Laplace pressure. Significantly, the film exhibited persisting de-wettability and endurance under harsh chemical, thermal, and mechanical conditions. The robustness is further fortified with room temperature self-healing and real-time self-regeneration characteristics, persisting even after exposure to strong acids and significant abrasion. The multidimensional aspects of the film embarked with a 70 % drag reduction and effective oil-water separation. The present work not only provides a sustainable pathway for managing agricultural waste but also a practical and easy-to-implement approach to tackle oil spill incidents.

Characteristic study of Candida rugosa lipase immobilized on lignocellulosic wastes: effect of support material.

For the first time is reported the comparison of solid biocatalysts derived from Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) immobilized on different lignocellulosic wastes (rice husk, brewer's spent grain, hemp tea waste, green tea waste, vine bark, and spent coffee grounds) focusing on the characterization of these materials and their impact on the lipase-support interaction. The wastes were subjected to meticulous characterization by ATR-FTIR, BET, and SEM analysis, besides lignin content and hydrophobicity determination. Investigating parameters influencing immobilization performance revealed the importance of morphology, textural properties, and hydrophobic interactions revealed the importance of morphology, textural properties and especially hydrophobic interactions which resulted in positive correlations between surface hydrophobicity and lipase immobilization efficiency. Hemp tea waste and spent coffee grounds demonstrated superior immobilization performances (7.20 U/g and 8.74 U/g immobilized activity, 102.3% and 33.5% efficiency, 13.4% and 15.4% recovery, respectively). Moreover, they demonstrated good temporal stability (100% and 92% residual activity after 120days, respectively) and retained 100% of their immobilized activity after five reuses in the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl palmitate in hexane. In addition, the study of enzymatic desorption caused by ionic strength and detergent treatments indicated mixed hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions in rice husk, vine bark, and spent coffee grounds supports, while hemp tea waste and green tea waste were dominated by hydrophobic interactions.

Enhanced Biological Potential and Phytochemical Profiling of Phoenix Dactylifera Leaves (Deglet Nour and Alig) by Kombucha Fermentation: Focus on Polyphenols, Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, and Cytotoxic Activities.

The date palm, scientifically known as Phoenix dactylifera, is an important cultural and economic source of wealth in southern Tunisia. It produces considerable agricultural waste, including palm leaves, the disposal of which is often a challenge. Our study addresses the sustainable conversion of date palm leaves into a valuable product through kombucha fermentation, focusing on two widely used varieties in Tunisia: Deglet Nour and Alig. HPLC-RI analysis showed a significant difference in the fermentation process between the treated samples, which is reflected in the highest sugar consumption and metabolite production in Alig palm. Unfermented and fermented date palm leaves were sequentially extracted with solvents of increasing polarity to evaluate their chemical composition and bioactivity. The results showed that kombucha fermentation significantly increased the total phenolic content, with the highest amounts in the ethyl acetate fraction. In terms of antioxidant activity, the ethyl acetate extracts showed a high percentage inhibitory activity (82.76%) against the DPPH radical found in fermented Palm Alig, which also exhibited the most important antidiabetic capacity (resulting in an IC50 value of 20 µg/mL). The chemical analyses resulted in the detection of 19 compounds by HPLC-DAD and 50 volatiles by GC-MS, which are mainly found in kombucha extracts.

Mechanical properties optimization and cost analysis of agricultural waste as an alternative in brick production

In recent years, building materials made from agricultural waste have become popular due to their lower cost and environmental impact. The Bio-Brick is mixed with Cement-Fly Ash and Hydrated Lime and a fine aggregate of groundnut shell in percentages (20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%). The optimum mix proportions of Bio-Brick and hydrated lime mortar were found from the compressive strength and were further continued to study the dry density, water absorption, and efflorescence. Machine Learning techniques are used to optimize and predict the properties of Bio-Bricks and mortars. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are employed to forecast properties such as compressive strength, dry density, and water absorption with exceptional accuracy. The results from RSM models exhibit high degrees of accuracy, with R-squared values exceeding 0.88 for compressive strength, dry density, and water absorption. ANN models further enhance this predictive power, with R-squared values exceeding 0.99 in predicting these critical properties.

Investigation of Cephalexin Removal Using Biochar Derived from Nephelium lappaceum Seeds

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%;margin-bottom:0cm;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-align:justify;text-autospace:none;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;" lang="EN-US">The improper disposal of drugs into bodies of water has become a severe environmental and health issue. Biochar synthesized from different agro residues could be a potential material for the adsorption of pollutants in aqueous environments. </span><em><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;" lang="EN-US">Nephelium lappaceum</span></i></em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;" lang="EN-US"> seeds were pyrolyzed at 600 °C in a pyrolysis reactor incorporating a slow pyrolysis process for carbonization. Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the biochar before and after adsorption of the pharmaceutical pollutant cephalexin. The effects of several factors, including initial cephalexin concentration, time of contact, dosage of adsorbent, and pH, were considered for the sorption. The findings showed that the Freundlich model offered the greatest fit for adsorption. The better-fitted kinetic model was the pseudo-second-order kinetic. Based on Langmuir isotherm model, the maximum adsorption capacity of cephalexin was obtained as 63.69 mg/g. The adsorption process involves hydrogen bonding, surface complexation, electrostatic and π−π EDA interactions. The current study offers a feasible and optimistic method for using agricultural waste and an alternative adsorbent substance for recovering highly concentrated cephalexin from water-based solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

Effects of Compost Application of Green Waste on Soil Properties: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: With the accelerating urbanization process, the garden area is gradually expanding, and the production of green waste is also increasing. Composting green waste can not only reduce environmental pollution caused by incineration and landfill and improve the utilization efficiency of resources but also improve the soil and increase soil productivity. The study aims to investigate the comprehensive impact of green waste compost (GWC) application on soil nutrient conditions. Through comprehensive data analysis, the impact of compost application of green waste on soil properties was revealed as a reference for compost application and fertilizer reduction. Methods: Based on meta-analysis, we quantitatively investigated the response of soil properties to the application of green waste, collected published experimental data, and integrated 25 domestic and international literature to analyze the effects of different soil properties on soil nutrients. Literature was used to analyze the impact of different application rates of GWC on the physicochemical properties of soils with varying pH levels. The results were compared to control conditions with no GWC application. Results: The application of significantly improved soil quality by reducing soil bulk density and increasing the levels of soil organic matter, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and dehydrogenase activity. The increases in available potassium and soil organic carbon were consistently significant across all subgroups. However, the effects on available phosphorus and organic matter varied in significance depending on initial soil pH. Soil bulk density was influenced by the GWC content, while dehydrogenase activity showed significant effects only when initial soil pH was ≥8. Total nitrogen levels were significantly impacted by GWC application in soil with an initial pH of <8 and at GWC contents of ≥50%. Conclusion: The application of green waste compost demonstrates a positive effect on soil improvement. This study provides a comprehensive database that supports the use of GWC in enhancing soil quality and reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

Insight into efficient photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin over a simple, economical biochar-based magnetic photocatalyst under solar illumination: a statistical and experimental approach.

The transformation of residual agricultural solid waste into an efficient value-added carbon product has been an ongoing strategy for solid waste management and a sustainable economy. Meanwhile, the upsurgence of antibiotic contamination in water bodies due to their inadvertent use poses a serious threat to human health and leads to antimicrobial resistance. Hence, to neutralize two evils in one stroke simultaneously, a simple, easy, and cost-effective pea shell-based magnetic photocatalyst (PSMC) has been synthesized and characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), VSM (vibrating sample magnetometer), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), and FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared) spectroscopy techniques. Batch experimental studies revealed that PSMC efficiently eliminates norfloxacin (91.3%) within 180min from wastewater and mineralizes it into innocuous products at optimum parameters of norfloxacin concentration of 20mg/L, catalyst dosage of 15mg, and pH 3.5. Additionally, statistical parameters for the photodegradation of NX obtained from ANOVA by applying the Box-Behnken design are in close agreement with batch experiment parameters. PSMC has surplus advantages of facile recovery for recycling up to seven consecutive cycles by an external magnet and efficacy in natural solar light, making it cost-effective and economical. Radical scavenging studies revealed that O2•- and OH• were the potent reactive species in the photocatalytic degradation process.

The Effects of Acid-Modified Biochar and Biomass Power Plant Ash on the Physiochemical Properties and Bacterial Community Structure of Sandy Alkaline Soils in the Ancient Region of the Yellow River

The application of biochar can effectively enhance soil organic matter (SOM) and improve soil structure. Biomass power plant ash (BPPA) is also rich in essential nutrients for plants, with similar carbon content. Considering production cost and agricultural waste recycling, it is beneficial to apply BPPA to improve soil fertility and quality. However, it remains unclear whether its ameliorative effects surpass those of biochar in alkaline soils. In the study, we set up seven pot experiments of faba beans in sandy alkaline soils from the ancient region of the Yellow River, including the controls (CK), different amounts of acid-modified BPPA (A1, A2, A3), and the same amounts of acid-modified biochar (B1, B2, B3), to compare their effects on soil physiochemical properties and bacterial community structure. The results indicate that the application of both biochar and BPPA can improve soil physiochemical properties. At the same dosage, the biochar application outperformed BPPA treatment in terms of soil physical properties such as bulk density (BD), maximum water-holding capacity (FC), and soil capillary porosity (SP2). Conversely, BPPA treatment displayed advantages in chemical properties such as readily oxidizable organic carbon (ROOC), total nitrogen (TN), alkaline nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), and electrical conductivity (EC). All the treatments enhanced the richness and diversity of bacterial communities, increasing the relative abundance of eutrophic groups such as Bacteroidota and Firmicutes while decreasing that of oligotrophic groups like Actinobacteriota. BPPA also increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, while the opposite was observed for biochar. Correlation analysis showed that the environmental factors such as soil pH, EC, TN, AK, SOM, and SP2 emerged as primary factors influencing the bacterial community structure of alkaline soils, significantly affecting their diversity and abundance. Among them, SP2 and SOM were the dominant physical and chemical factors, respectively. Overall, the application of both acid-modified BPPA and biochar can enhance the physiochemical properties of sandy alkaline soils, while the application of BPPA is superior for improving soil nutrient content and enhancing bacterial community structure. The study explores the potential mechanisms through which the application of acid-modified BPPA affects soil characteristics and microbial features, providing new insight into developing optimizing fertilization strategies for enhancing soil quality in the ancient region of the Yellow River.

Carbon conversion and microbial driving factors in the humification of green waste composts

Carbon conversion and microbial driving factors in the humification of green waste composts

Photothermal-Induced Multimodal Antibacterial Dressing Comprising N-Halamine Hydrogel Loaded with Cow Dung Biochar for Infected Wound Healing.

Disposal of the cow dung pollutants arising from cattle farming threatens the environment and public safety in diverse ways. To date, researchers have worked on developing new pathways to control and manage cattle farming wastes, but most do not involve the reuse of these wastes. Herein, a cow dung biochar-modulated photothermal N-halamine hydrogel (i.e., PAN/CA/CoBC/pMAG-Cl) was designed for converting cow dung into biochar (CoBC), which was then coupled with a 3D interpenetrating hydrogel network to treat infected wounds. The PAN/CA/CoBC/pMAG-Cl hydrogel exhibited excellent synergistic antibacterial performance against 106 CFU·mL-1 Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) within 60 min. The bactericidal effect was multimodal, involving CoBC-based photothermal killing (i.e., temperature as high as 80.5 °C) after 808 nm near-infrared light irradiation for 10 min, contact killing through the strong oxidative characteristic of N-halamine (pMAG-Cl), and release killing via active halogens (i.e., Cl+) reinforced by the photothermal action of CoBC. The S. aureus-infected wound model in vivo demonstrated that the PAN/CA/CoBC/pMAG-Cl hydrogel worked as an ideal wound dressing, capable of resisting bacterial infection, accelerating the healing process, and promoting epithelial regeneration. This proposed strategy could indicate a new way for the disposal of cow dung pollutant and its reuse in antibacterial-associated applications.

Effects of Grapevine Fiber and Additives on the Properties of Polylactic Acid Green Bio-Composites

In recent years, numerous researchers have incorporated plant fibers into polymers to alter the thermal and mechanical properties of materials. Grapevines, considered agricultural waste, have led to burdens for farmers and environmental challenges due to their mass production. This study aims to reduce the brittleness of polylactic acid (PLA) by adding polybutylene succinate (PBS) as a toughening agent and employing grapevine fiber (GVF) as a biomass filler. Additionally, the influence of GVF, toughening agents, compatibilizers, and lubrication agents on the tensile strength, heat deflection temperature (HDT), and impact strength of the composites was examined. The findings revealed that the addition of 10% GVF and 5% PBS increased the impact and tensile strengths of PLA from 17.47 J/m and 49.74 MPa to 29.7 J/m and 54.46 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the HDT of the composites exceeded 120 °C when the GVF content was more than 40 wt%. Additionally, the inclusion of a compatibilizer and a lubrication agent enabled the composite containing 30% GVF to achieve tensile and impact strengths of 45.30 MPa and 25.52 J/m, respectively. Consequently, these GVF/PLA green bio-composites not only improve the mechanical and thermal properties of PLA but also promote the reuse of waste grapevines.