Mohammad Tarikuzzaman

The sustainable conversion of agricultural waste biomass, particularly crop residues such as corn stover, into high-value products is vital for reducing their open-field burning and mitigating environmental hazards. The hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process integrated with natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) presents an alternative approach for valorizing biomass into lignin-rich solid fuels and fermentable sugars for bioethanol production. In this study, corn stover was subjected to HTC using deionized (DI) water, a xylose-based NADES (ChCl:Xy:W), and an oxalic acid-based NADES (ChCl:OA:W) in a 150–300 °C temperature range to optimize both solid fuel and sugar stream yields. Characterization, including fiber analysis, SEM, FTIR, EDS, and bomb calorimetry, was conducted to evaluate structural, compositional, and energetic transformations. The results explored the HTC process, restructuring the biomass, promoting extensive hemicellulose solubilization and cellulose depolymerization, as well as substantially enriching lignin and polymerized compounds with increasing temperature. In addition, the DI water at 300 °C generated a lignin-rich residue, the Xy-based NADES effectively removed ash and extractives, and the OA-based NADES produced the most carbon-dense hydrochar with the highest calorific value. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that solvent-assisted HTC may be employed as a possible strategy for the valorization of agricultural residues into high-energy solid fuels.

Agriculture, particularly modern, high-input farming systems, constitutes the backbone of food and nutritional security globally. The disposal of agricultural waste (the byproducts and leftovers generated from crop farming and food production industries) has emerged as one of the prime challenges...

In lunar and deep-space farming, saline stress (SS) induced by human urine in hydroponically grown vegetables constitutes one of the prime concerns in its utilization for plant nutrition. Therefore, an indoor hydroponic trial was performed to assess the effectiveness of foliar feeding of citric...

A critical issue facing extraterrestrial expansion has always been long-term life support capabilities. The large energy requirements to move even small amounts of material from Earth necessitate the ability to reuse and recycle as much as possible, particularly waste. The weight of food supplies eventually starts to limit the length of the expedition. Hydroponic growth systems offer the ability to grow plants, and with them, a miniature ecosystem. This offers the ability to repurpose both carbon dioxide and waste salts such as ammonia and other compounds, such as those found in urine. A major issue facing hydroponic systems is the need to provide a stable water-based nutrient stream. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) was tested for viability as a method of re-concentrating and stabilizing the nutrient-rich water stream. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)- and polyvinylidene (PVDF)-based polymer hydrophobic membranes were used to separate solutes from water. The DCMD method was tested with the feed stream operating at temperatures of 50 °C, 65 °C, and 80 °C. The results were analyzed using UV-Visible spectroscopy to determine concentrations. The benefits and limitations of the PTFE and PVDF membranes in DCMD were compared. The larger-pore PTFE membranes concentrated solutions effectively at 80 °C, while the PVDF membranes removed more water at lower temperatures, but permitted detectable phosphate ion leakage. Adjusting temperature and flow rates can help maintain stable ion and water transfer, benefiting hydroponic systems in achieving reliable nutrient levels.

In southern states of the United States (US), particularly in Louisiana, noxious broadleaf weeds have become undesired flora that tends to dominate crop plants in all types of farming systems. By genotypic superiority-driven robust growth habits and unprecedented reproductive potential, weed species acquire more growth resources (moisture, nutrients, solar radiation, etc.) than crop plants. Weed species can also survive periods of suboptimal growth conditions (salinity, drought, heat, chilling, heavy metal toxicity, water logging, soil erosion, heavy grazing and trampling by livestock, etc.). Considering changing climate scenarios and environmental pollution associated with the extensive use of herbicides, researchers have realized the need to explore and understand the remarkable agro-botanical superiority of weeds. Formulating and re-optimizing weed management approaches has become essential for improving farming practices. To attain these objectives, this study has been tailored to synthesize fundamental knowledge on a few prevalent weeds (e.g., pigweed, alligator weed, Chinese tallow, and parthenium weed) of Louisiana. Moreover, the prevalence of invasive weed species in the region has been objectively analyzed, and an economically viable chemical engineering-based weed management strategy (hydrothermal carbonization) for converting weed biomass into organic soil amendment (hydrochar) has been proposed. Such an approach holds the potential to keep weeds below the threshold level and reduce the use of herbicides, along with imparting sustainability to common Louisiana farming systems.

Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) uses low heat sources to separate water from urea, which was then used as a plasticizer in regolith-based cement to make it more workable. The work investigated separating potable water and urea from artificial urine using DCMD and then characterizing the products. Water was successfully separated from the artificial urine solution as characterized by density, conductivity, pH, and substance concentrations. The concentrated urine solution was used in regolith-based cement cured under vacuum at temperatures that simulated temperatures that would be expected in construction on the Moon. Workability and other properties were improved by replacing water with concentrated urine solution in the mix.

Appropriate nutrient sources and optimized doses of plant nutrients for space and lunar farming have remained key challenges prompting investigations to sort out biologically viable options including human urine. Therefore, a trial was performed to compare the hydroponic growth of sugar beets...

The development of each nation is evaluated by its infrastructure, and each nation is competing with the others in infrastructure advancement, especially in the construction of roadways, since they play a vital role in the economic and social development of the nation. The conventional materials used for road construction are concrete and asphalt, which pose significant environmental challenges. This research gives insight into the potential of fly ash (FA) and corn stover (CS) in synthesizing geopolymer, as an alternative material for the construction of roads. This study examines the impact of three FA and CS mixture percentages and the particle size of CS on the compressive strength and porosity of geopolymer. The results indicate that incorporating larger amounts of CS in fly ash-based geopolymer may decrease the compressive strength of the geopolymer. Smaller CS particle sizes also tend to lead to lower compressive strength. Porosity of the geopolymer tended to increase with the incorporation of higher percentages of CS, particularly for smaller corn stover sizes. As a fine aggregate replacement for geopolymer, CS incorporation has the potential to reduce mined aggregate obtained from a process that harms the environment.

Phase behavior, density, viscosity, conductivity, pH, and surface tension were measured, and FTIR was performed for a series of mixtures of sugar (glucose, fructose, xylose, and sucrose), water, and choline chloride (ChCl) at specific molar ratios. These mixtures, called sugar-based natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs), were investigated as a function of temperature. Contact angle measurements indicated that NADES exhibited slightly lower wettability but higher surface tension than water. Temperature was found to greatly impact density, viscosity, and conductivity. The optimum water molar ratio for lower viscosity was found at ratios higher than those reported in the literature, indicating that the NADES investigated may have industrial process applications.