Search Results (714)

Poultry feather waste, one of the major by-products of the poultry industry, represents an underutilized protein-rich biomass with significant potential for sustainable valorization within the circular bioeconomy. This narrative review examines recent advances in the use of poultry feathers as a renewable source of keratin for the development of keratin-based biomaterials. A structured literature search of original research articles published between 2015 and 2026 resulted in a final primary evidence map of 524 records, which was used to evaluate current knowledge on poultry feather management, keratin structure and properties, extraction technologies, and the development of feather-derived biomaterials. The reviewed literature indicates that keratin recovery can convert feather waste into higher-value materials, although its environmental performance depends on the extraction route, energy and chemical requirements, and comparison with established feather-management pathways. Recent advances highlight the potential of feather-derived keratin for biodegradable films, composites, hydrogels, coatings, packaging, biomedical, agricultural, and environmental applications. However, challenges remain regarding scalable extraction technologies, material performance, process standardization, and industrial implementation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current research and identifies future directions for integrating poultry feather valorization into circular bioeconomy strategies, supporting resource efficiency and the development of sustainable bio-based materials. Full article

The binary blend of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has emerged as the primary base material combination for biodegradable mulch films because of their favorable processability and biodegradability, offering a viable route to replace conventional polyethylene films in agricultural applications. However, the PBAT/PLA binary system suffers from thermodynamic incompatibility, limiting simultaneous achievement of mechanical, barrier, and optical properties. This study introduces poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) as the third component and investigates its content (0–20%) on the microstructure and performance of PBAT/PLA/PPC ternary films. At PPC ≤ 10%, the system maintains an amorphous homogeneous structure, and PPC enriches the surface and improves interfacial adhesion. When the PPC content is 10%, the blend exhibited a transverse tensile strength of 43.3 MPa, an elongation at break of 338%, and a 29.8% reduction in water vapor permeability versus the neat blend. At 15% PPC, the compatibility threshold is exceeded, causing severe phase separation, a sharp drop in melt strength, and deteriorated mechanics. At 20%, phase separation induces PBAT/PLA crystallization, further enhancing barrier performance but reducing thermal stability and transparency. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic rheological analysis confirm the compatibility threshold, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy reveal abrupt changes in surface chemistry, crystal structure, and morphology. Overall, 10% PPC offers the best balanced properties. This work elucidates structure and property relationships, providing a basis for the rational formulation design of biodegradable mulch film. Further field weathering and biodegradation tests are required to validate their practical agricultural performance. Full article

The physicochemical properties of buccal films are vital for evaluating their suitability for mucosal applications. By focusing on these properties, researchers can enhance the mechanical functionality and mucoadhesion of the films. This study aimed to overcome the mechanical limitations of neat gellan gum and to produce biocomposite films with enhanced physicochemical properties and mucoadhesive properties for potential use in buccal drug delivery. Biocomposite films composed of gellan gum (GG) and pineapple stem fiber (PSF), with glycerine as a plasticizer, were prepared using the solvent casting method to develop a formulation suitable for this application. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, pH and thickness measurements, tensile test, folding endurance, swelling index, scanning electron microscope (SEM), mucoadhesion test and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were conducted to determine the optimal PSF content in the GG-based biocomposite film formulation. The results indicated that the optimal formulation, GG/3PSF, was achieved with the incorporation of 3 wt% PSF relative to the GG mass. Specifically, the GG/3PSF biocomposite film exhibited a tensile strength of 17.10 ± 0.4 MPa (a 50% increase compared to neat GG), an elongation at break of 46.0 ± 2.5%, a tensile toughness of 41 ± 2.0 MPa, and an ex vivo mucoadhesive residence time of at 7.76 ± 0.51 h for GG/3PSF (compared to 3.90 ± 0.24 h for neat GG). Additionally, it maintained a moderate and optimal swelling index of 115.31 ± 2.3% after 60 min of hydration, which prevents structural instability associated with excessive swelling (such as 161.81 ± 4.7% observed in GG/7PSF), while possessing acceptable thickness (0.09 ± 0.005 mm) and neutral pH (7.0 ± 0.05). The developed buccal film is environmentally friendly due to the utilization of pineapple stem fiber, an agricultural by-product that can reduce material costs compared with synthetic fillers and shows considerable potential as a biocomposite film for buccal drug delivery applications. Full article

To explore the suitable surface mulching measures for vegetation restoration in abandoned mining areas in arid regions, this study investigated the water conservation effects of various surface mulching practices on H. ammodendron restoration in arid mining zones. The results showed that (1) The survival rates of sandalwood under different coverage measures are ranked as follows: coal gangue mulching > control > fine sand mulching > liquid film mulching > agricultural plastic film mulching. (2) Different mulching measures had a significant effect on the height growth of H. ammodendron (p = 0.001) (p < 0.05). The agricultural plastic film group yielded the greatest annual increments in plant height and crown width (36.50 cm and 33.49 cm, respectively), with agricultural plastic film and fine sand exhibiting superior water retention capacity. (3) Overall, each mulching practice had distinct advantages and drawbacks. Agricultural plastic film mulching achieved the best plant growth-promoting effect yet suffered from soil contamination and high costs. Coal gangue mulching, capable of solid waste recycling while delivering favorable restoration outcomes, was the preferred option for vegetation restoration in local mining areas. These findings provide technical references and practical support for vegetation restoration in abandoned mining areas of arid regions. Full article

Agricultural soils have been identified as significant sinks for plastic waste from mulch films, which in turn can reach aquatic ecosystems. As an alternative to conventional materials, there has been growing interest in biodegradable mulch films, but their environmental behavior and ecotoxicological effects are not yet fully established. In this study, the effects of residues from a conventional mulch film and a biodegradable mulch film on model organisms representative of edaphic (Hordeum vulgare and Cucurbita maxima) and aquatic (Paracentrotus lividus) ecosystems were evaluated. During this study, the residues of the mulches in seawater were also analyzed, considering natural aging conditions, using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The results of the ecotoxicological tests showed that the residues of both types of mulch films did not generate any significant adverse effects on the selected terrestrial and marine bioindicators in the two end-of-life scenarios, with the exception of the residues of conventional mulch, unaged and aged for one month, at medium-high concentrations from an environmental point of view on P. lividus. The natural weathering assay in a marine environment showed that residues from conventional mulch film remained essentially unaltered, with similar concentrations detected throughout the 12-month exposure period. In contrast, the biodegradable mulch film exhibited significant degradation from the initial time point, reaching concentrations below the analytical detection limit after the first month. Full article

Widespread polyethylene (PE) mulch film application has caused severe farmland plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. To identify low-carbon end-of-life pathways for waste agricultural mulch film, this study established a full life-cycle carbon footprint model comparing three treatment scenarios—incineration, mechanical regranulation, and pyrolysis, each coupled with residue landfilling—under two accounting conditions: with and without carbon-compensation credits from by-product substitution. Using 1 t of waste film as the functional unit and an 8 km² farmland plot (110.4 t of applied film) as the reference scenario, cradle-to-grave emissions were quantified. Without compensation, regranulation delivers the lowest emissions (519.17 t CO₂ eq), 12.02 t CO₂ eq below pyrolysis. With compensation credits, pyrolysis achieves the lowest net emission (247.82 t CO₂ eq, 248.10 t CO₂ eq less than regranulation), but this advantage arises from avoided emissions of product substitution rather than lower direct emissions. The per-tonne carbon footprint ranks pyrolysis (2.24 t CO₂ eq) < regranulation (4.49 t CO₂ eq) < incineration (5.15 t CO₂ eq). A proposed 5400 t/year pyrolysis facility yields an annual net carbon reduction of 1082.16 t CO₂ eq. These results inform differentiated disposal strategies for major mulch-film-covering provinces. Full article

Hydrolates are aqueous co-products of aromatic-plant distillation whose composition and functionality differ from those of the corresponding essential oils. This critical review links botanical source, distillation conditions, chemical composition, quantitative biological performance, food or agricultural application, and readiness for nano-enabled formulation. Direct hydrolate studies show marked heterogeneity: reported antimicrobial performance ranges from minimum inhibitory concentrations of 5.69–500 μL mL⁻¹ to approximately 1–3.5 log reductions in food models, while antioxidant results depend strongly on the assay and reporting unit. Evidence in foods is most developed for fresh produce, seafood, dairy, meat, and beverages, but direct bakery validation remains a gap. Hydrolates offer aqueous compatibility and generally lower sensory intensity than essential oils, yet low active-compound concentrations, batch variability, microbiological susceptibility, and limited shelf stability restrict reproducible use. Among nano-enabled solutions, one direct lavender-hydrolate nanoemulsion study reported a diameter of 225.4 ± 3.2 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.098 ± 0.011, together with improved antibacterial activity; however, hydrolate-specific encapsulation efficiencies, release kinetics, long-term stability, food validation, and field trials are largely unreported. Liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogels, and active films therefore remain mostly transferable concepts supported by essential-oil, extract, or isolated-compound studies rather than established hydrolate technologies. Future work should use standardized production and quality markers, free-hydrolate and unloaded-carrier controls, realistic matrices, safety and non-target testing, scale-up analysis, and quantitative sustainability assessment. Hydrolates are promising sustainable phytochemical resources, but claims of nano-enabled advantage require direct comparative evidence. Full article

Synthetic materials used to enhance the productivity of agricultural crops have, in turn, begun to exert negative impacts on soil ecology. This has led to an increased interest in environmentally safe biomaterials. In this context, an antibacterial biofilm was developed based on oxidized starch and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as well as cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) derived from corn husk (CH). According to the obtained results, the film containing 3% CNFs exhibited the highest mechanical strength, reaching 3.87 MPa. To impart antibacterial properties to the resulting biofilm, different volumetric amounts of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) synthesized via a green method were incorporated. As a result, the biofilm containing 1 mL of CuNPs demonstrated the highest antibacterial activity. It was also found that, compared to the pristine film, the mechanical strength of the CuNPs-immobilized biofilm decreased by threefold, while its flexibility increased. The antibacterial biofilm was comparatively characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TGA techniques, and its physicochemical properties were determined. The biodegradation behavior of the biofilm in soil was also investigated, revealing that 57% of its total mass degraded within 80 days. In this context, it was determined that the degradation of the biofilm did not significantly affect soil pH or the levels of macro- and microelements. Based on its physicochemical properties, the obtained biofilm demonstrates high potential for application in the agro-industrial sector as a mulching film, as well as in the production of food packaging materials and bioplastics. Full article

Biodegradable alginate films containing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are being increasingly investigated as active agricultural materials (e.g., antimicrobial mulches) and active food packaging. However, since these materials ultimately degrade in soil after use, assessing their environmental compatibility and potential phytotoxicity upon release is crucial. The aim of this study was to synthesize films containing AgNPs in sodium alginate using xylose as a reducing agent and to determine their effect on culturable rhizosphere microorganisms and selected biochemical parameters in young arugula (Eruca vesicaria L. subsp. sativa) plants. Alginate films containing three nominal AgNP loadings (50, 100, and 150 mg L⁻¹) and a control film without AgNPs were synthesized. The films were cut into square pieces (4 cm²) and placed in 0.076 L multipots filled with peat substrate, into which arugula seeds were sown. During the experiment, the abundance of culturable rhizosphere bacteria and fungi was determined, and the young arugula plants were subjected to biochemical analyses. The results showed that the AgNP-containing films did not significantly affect the abundance of bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere under the conditions tested. The tested films also did not markedly alter the measured parameters in the tissues of young arugula plants, including ascorbic acid, photosynthetic pigments, sugars, dietary protein, and glutathione. However, they reduced phenolic content, altered antioxidant activity, and led to detectable silver accumulation in plant tissues, especially at the highest nominal AgNP loading (150 mg L⁻¹). These findings indicate limited but selective biochemical effects during the early growth stage of arugula rather than a complete absence of plant response. Full article

Agricultural production is an important source of global carbon emissions, yet differences in system boundaries and emission factors among previous studies have limited comparisons across crops and regions. This study investigated the distribution, emission sources, and regional disparities of agricultural carbon emissions across 31 major crop-producing provinces in China, using a unified life cycle assessment (LCA) framework based on agricultural input, crop production, and agronomic data in 2024. Carbon emissions per unit area (CEA) and per unit yield (CEY) were quantified under consistent accounting boundaries, and the contributions of different emission sources together with their spatial characteristics were discussed. CEA generally showed higher values in the central and eastern regions of China and Xinjiang, but lower values in southwestern and northeastern China. Xinjiang contributed the highest total carbon emissions (about 1.6 × 10⁵ t), primarily because extensive cotton cultivation requires intensive irrigation, mechanized operations, and plastic-film mulching, leading to high emissions from fertilizer use, energy consumption, and agricultural film. Rice exhibited the highest carbon emissions (accounting for 30% of all 11 types of crops), followed by cotton and tobacco, while soybeans, rapeseed, and sugar beets had relatively low emission intensities. Fertilizer production and application were the dominant emission sources for most upland crops, while methane emissions from flooded paddy fields accounted for the largest share of rice carbon emissions. Spatial clustering analysis further indicated that high-emission regions were concentrated in central and eastern China, while northeastern China formed distinct low-emission clusters. This study provided a consistent assessment of carbon emissions from major crops across China, offering a reference basis for formulating emission reduction strategies for different crops and regions. Full article

Accurate mapping of transparent and white agricultural plastic mulch from very-high-resolution imagery is difficult because bright roofs, roads, and bare soil resemble mulch, while narrow strips and damaged film fragment boundaries. We propose a semantic–texture complementation module (STCM) that adds a partially adapted MobileNetV2 texture encoder and attention-plus-concatenation fusion to PSPNet, DeepLabV3+, and U-Net, and ask whether one jointly selected configuration transfers across the three backbones. Using 1582 georeferenced GF-7 patches partitioned into 1 km spatial blocks with a 100 m exclusion buffer, STCM raised mean foreground F1 by 1.99, 2.30, and 0.99 percentage points for PSPNet, DeepLabV3+, and U-Net, respectively, and improved two-pixel boundary F1 for all three carriers. A capacity-matched scratch-MobileNetV2 control produced lower validation F1 than the ImageNet-initialized condition, associating the gain with pretrained texture representation rather than branch size alone. With STCM–PSPNet as the upstream model, connected components of its prediction generated box and centroid prompts for frozen SAM ViT-H, and a learned FusionNet-S head combined the domain probability with the SAM mask. In pooled summaries, FusionNet-S kept region F1 close to the no-SAM refinement head, improved two-pixel boundary F1 by 2.97 percentage points, and reduced HD95 by 1.19 pixels. A matched randomized-location prompt control retained similar region F1 but did not reproduce the boundary-F1 improvement. Together, the results show that one locked STCM configuration can transfer across the tested CNN carriers and that prediction-guided SAM fusion can strengthen boundary recovery within the evaluated single-date GF-7 domain. Full article

Microplastics (MPs) pollution caused by agricultural film residues, organic fertilizer application, sewage irrigation, and atmospheric deposition has gradually become an unignorable interference factor to the sustainable development of the rhizosphere soil and crop in farmland. However, their specific impacts on the rhizosphere and crops remain unclear. Therefore, this review focuses on the current knowledge on the response mechanisms of rhizosphere soil and crops to MP contamination. The density of MPs is generally lower than that of soil mineral particles. Their substantial accumulation in soil can significantly reduce both the bulk density (by increasing total porosity) and the particle density (by diluting the heavy solid phase with light plastic components). The introduction of MPs disrupts the normal metabolism of soil bacterial communities; a disruption directly reflected in functional genes associated with carbon cycling. MPs can interfere with the activity of key metabolic enzymes involved in fungal nutrient cycling, thereby disrupting normal energy allocation and material metabolism. Viruses can regulate the turnover and metabolism of microbial communities through lytic and lysogenic cycles, consequently influencing the carbon fate of MPs. The toxicity and underlying mechanisms of MPs on soil fauna primarily manifest in aspects such as feeding behavior, growth and development, oxidative stress, intestinal toxicity, and reproductive toxicity. The direct effects of MPs on plants include physical barriers and mechanical damage, induction of oxidative stress, interference with nutrient uptake, disruption of photosynthesis and carbon metabolism, and disruption of plant hormone networks. This review identifies critical knowledge gaps, particularly regarding crop quality, field-based soil faunal studies, virus-microbe interactions, and degradation products, and proposes future research directions to better understand the risks MPs pose to agricultural sustainability and food safety. Full article

Humic acid, as a natural macromolecular aggregate rich in functional groups, offers abundant modification sites and tunable chemical functionality, making it a promising building block for three-dimensional network construction. In this study, glutaraldehyde (GA) was employed as a crosslinking agent to incorporate sodium humate (NaHA, sodium salt of humic acid from alkaline treatment) into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix, yielding composite membranes with enhanced structural stability and performance. The results demonstrate that NaHA effectively modulates the crosslinked network, and the physical and mechanical characteristics can be readily tailored by varying the PVA/NaHA/GA ratio. Compared with pristine PVA/GA hydrogel, the inclusion of NaHA significantly influences the mechanical response, with optimal comprehensive performance achieved at a NaHA content of 7.5 wt%, corresponding to a tensile strength of 60.4 MPa and an elongation at break of 74.2%. Furthermore, the cumulative release of NaHA after two days reached 64.4%, confirming that NaHA supramolecular aggregates were stably entrapped within the PVA/GA crosslinked matrix. The release kinetics were well described by the Korsmeyer–Peppas model. Overall, the covalent crosslinking of PVA with GA, together with hydrogen-bonding associations and physical entrapment mediated by NaHA, constructed a composite membrane network. This network exhibited tunable dry-state mechanical properties and sustained NaHA release, supporting its further evaluation as a prospective candidate for agricultural mulching films. Full article

The generation of aerosols with narrow droplet-size distributions remains a key challenge in liquid atomization technologies used in agricultural, chemical-processing, and environmental applications. This study presents an experimental investigation of spray characteristics produced by an inertial rotary atomizer equipped with an internal hydrodynamic flow-conditioning system. The experiments were conducted using a Box–Behnken experimental design and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Fifteen experimental runs, including three center-point replicates, were performed to evaluate the combined effects of the operating parameters. Liquid flow rate, rotor rotational speed, and spraying height were selected as independent variables. The response variables included the characteristic droplet diameters (d₁₀, d₅₀ and d₉₀), the Span coefficient, and droplet deposition density (N). Quadratic regression models were fitted to the experimental data to explore the influence of the operating parameters on spray characteristics; however, statistical diagnostics indicated limited predictive capability, and the models were therefore used primarily for exploratory interpretation of response trends within the investigated design space. The experimental results indicated that rotor speed exhibited the strongest tendency to influence droplet-size characteristics within the investigated operating range, while increasing liquid flow rate was associated with larger droplet diameters, consistent with the expected effect of increased liquid-film thickness. Within the investigated atomizer configuration, relatively narrow droplet-size distributions were experimentally observed under selected operating conditions. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that internal hydrodynamic flow conditioning may contribute to liquid-film destabilization and subsequent breakup. However, its independent contribution cannot be isolated from the present experiments because an otherwise identical baseline atomizer without the flow-conditioning element was not tested. Within the model-predicted favorable operating region (liquid flow rate of 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ m³·s⁻¹, rotor rotational speed of 4600–5100 min⁻¹, and spraying height of 30 cm), the fitted response-surface model predicted a volume median droplet diameter of approximately 64 μm. Separately, the minimum experimentally observed Span coefficient was approximately 0.58, indicating a relatively narrow deposited-droplet-size distribution within the investigated operating range. This model-predicted region was not independently verified by a dedicated confirmation experiment and therefore should not be interpreted as an experimentally validated optimum. The proposed physical interpretation considers hydrodynamic flow conditioning as a plausible additional mechanism contributing to spray uniformity, although its quantitative validation requires dedicated flow diagnostics and CFD analysis. The obtained results characterize the spray behavior of the developed atomizer within the investigated operating domain and provide an experimental basis for future comparative studies aimed at quantifying the independent contribution of the internal flow-conditioning system. These findings provide experimental evidence supporting further investigation of this concept and may contribute to the development of rotary atomizers for precision agricultural spraying and other engineering applications requiring controlled droplet-size distributions. Full article

Plastic is a valuable material for packaging of food and pharmaceuticals, protective wrappings in construction and agriculture, and fluid storage. Flexible plastic or plastic film waste from packaging, agriculture, and construction applications grows at a rate of at least 92 million metric tons a year, is considered challenging to recycle, and is typically landfilled. In recent years, there have been great advancements in plastic recycling technology in order to deal with the global challenge of plastic waste buildup and support legislation from a local to national level to implement recycling. This work highlights the most recent advancements in plastic film recycling. Plastic films are mono- or multilayered based on what their applications will be, with multilayer multimaterial films being the more challenging feedstock for recycling. Mechanical recycling cannot easily process flexible films. Pyrolysis can use polyolefin-based film as feedstock but is not practiced at scale to match the rate of plastic film waste generation, and incineration can recover energy from film feedstock but is not recycling plastic. This has motivated the development of new recycling technologies designed around plastic films. Better characterization technologies to identify film compositions in municipal waste streams have been key to sorting out film feedstock for mechanical recycling and the baling of flexible plastic waste, but they struggle with multilayer films and black plastic. Compatibilization enables the recycling of mixed plastic waste but requires polymer compositions for selecting specific compatibilizers. Dissolution–precipitation recovers individual types of polymers from multilayer films and, at the same time, can purify polymers from additives or contaminants, but requires intense solvent processing and associated energy. Delamination of multilayer films can separate and recover solid films of polyolefins at relatively low amounts of solvent but requires quality feedstock to be efficient. Both dissolution–precipitation and delamination recycling of films recover the original polymer molecules and maintain their embodied energy, hence support circularity. In the case of PET-containing films, depolymerization to recover PET monomers offers opportunities to recycle challenging film feedstock. Full article