Search Results (3,607)

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is widely used in intumescent flame-retardant (IFR) systems because of its environmental friendliness, low cost, and high flame-retardant efficiency. However, its practical applications are limited by high hygroscopicity, poor compatibility with organic substrates, and the high loading required in single-component systems. To address these limitations, extensive studies have been conducted on APP modification and synergistic flame-retardant systems. This review systematically summarizes the modification strategies and flame-retardant mechanisms of APP. The synergistic flame-retardant effects and mechanisms of APP combined with silicon-, boron-, and metal-containing compounds are also discussed. In addition, the effects on the flame-retardant performance of different structural characteristics, such as nanostructures, layered structures, and ring structures, are reviewed. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives of APP-based flame-retardant systems are highlighted. This review provides useful guidance for the design, optimization, and practical application of advanced APP-based intumescent flame-retardant materials. Full article

Green finance has become a key component of sustainability transitions by supporting the alignment of financial systems with environmental and climate-related objectives. As discussions on sustainable investments and climate finance increasingly take place in digital environments, analyzing large-scale user-generated content has become important for understanding online discussions and emerging discourse patterns. This study investigates green finance discourse in the digital public sphere using a multi-method Natural Language Processing (NLP) framework. A dataset of 23,452 posts collected from the platform X was analyzed using TF-IDF-based word frequency analysis, FinBERT-based sentiment analysis, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modelling, and keyword co-occurrence network analysis. The results indicate that green finance discourse is dominated by positive (44.61%) and neutral (45.85%) sentiment, suggesting a generally favorable and institutionalized public perception. Topic modelling identified three dominant themes: climate finance and sustainability transition, digital finance and speculative investment narratives, energy investments and financial infrastructure. Network analysis revealed that sustainability, climate, energy, investment, and finance constitute the core conceptual structure of discourse. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of NLP-based approaches for analyzing large-scale digital discussions and provide insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and organizations seeking to better understand online discussions surrounding green finance and support more effective sustainability communication strategies. Full article

Intensified paddy production plays a crucial role in sustaining rice productivity and food security; however, long-term high-frequency puddling, heavy machinery operations under wet soil conditions, simplified cropping systems, and insufficient organic matter inputs have progressively degraded the physical structure of paddy soils. Such structural degradation not only weakens soil water movement, nutrient supply, and aeration but also restricts rice root penetration, alters rhizosphere processes, and disrupts plant–soil feedbacks. Previous studies have largely focused on individual aspects such as soil compaction, amendment-based improvement, water management, or root responses, whereas an integrated understanding of the multi-source drivers, functional consequences, and restoration pathways of soil structural degradation in intensified paddy fields remains limited. Following the overarching theme of soil degradation and regeneration, this review systematically synthesizes the indicator framework, formation mechanisms, degradation typology, ecological consequences, and regulation strategies of paddy soil structural degradation. We further clarify the transition of degraded paddy soils from single physical constraints to the coupled decline of physical, chemical, and biological functions, and compare the agronomic performance, environmental implications, implementation feasibility, and trade-offs of different restoration pathways. Existing evidence indicates that soil structural degradation in paddy fields can impair root-zone pore connectivity, rhizosphere oxygen supply, nutrient acquisition, microbial-mediated carbon and nitrogen cycling, and greenhouse gas regulation, thereby affecting rice growth, yield stability, and the ecological sustainability of paddy systems. Accordingly, the restoration of degraded paddy soils should move beyond short-term loosening or single-factor amendment toward integrated regeneration strategies that maintain soil structural health, reconstruct plough-layer functions, enhance root–soil interactions, and promote the synergistic recovery of pore networks, aggregates, organic carbon, and microbial processes. This review provides a theoretical basis and research reference for the precise restoration of soil structural constraints and the sustainable management of plant–soil systems in intensified paddy fields. Full article

Türkiye’s ratification of the Paris Agreement and the subsequent enactment of Climate Law No. 7552 mark a critical phase in the institutionalization of national climate policy. The law’s reliance on market-based mechanisms, particularly the Emissions Trading System, has generated substantial public and media debate. This study examines how three ideologically distinct news outlets, Yeni Şafak, Evrensel, and Deutsche Welle Turkish, represented the legislative process between June and July 2025. Drawing on Teun A. van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis, this study analyses 14 news texts at the microstructural level, focusing on headlines, word choice, actor representation, and legitimization strategies. The findings reveal three distinct discursive roles articulated around a shared market-based logic of climate governance: pro-government coverage legitimizes the law as an economic opportunity and a national achievement, oppositional coverage contests it as ecological exploitation and neoliberal environmental governance, and international coverage audits it against international commitments and standards of technical adequacy. The analysis shows that climate legislation becomes a site of ideological struggle in news discourse, even when debate remains largely organized around a shared market-based understanding of climate policy. Journalism may support, challenge, or scrutinize this framework in different ways. Full article

Organic production systems (OPSs) for almond crops are rapidly expanding in Mediterranean regions due to the crops’ high adaptation to water-limited conditions and the environmental and economic benefits associated with these farming strategies. However, the response of almond trees to regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) under OPS remains insufficiently understood. Unlike conventional orchards, organic farming operates under stricter limitations regarding nutrient management and the control of pests and diseases, factors that may modify crop resilience and alter the physiological and productive responses to water deficit. Consequently, it remains unclear how ecophysiological adjustments under organic management translate into yield performance and water productivity, and which cultivars are best adapted to these production conditions. This study evaluated the combined effects of irrigation regime (full irrigation (FI) and RDI), soil management (mulching cover (MC) and incorporated cover (IC)), and cultivar (Guara, Marta, Lauranne, and Marcona) on almond physiology and productivity over two consecutive growing seasons (2024–2025) in a Mediterranean environment. Net photosynthesis (A_n), stomatal conductance (g_sw), transpiration (E), intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i), and stem water potential (Ψ_stem) were monitored throughout key phenological stages, together with yield components. According to our findings, the phenological stage was the main driver of physiological variability, followed by irrigation doses, whereas cover crop management had negligible effects. The RDI significantly affected Ψ_stem and E, but not A_n, indicating that the imposed water deficit did not severely constrain the photosynthetic machinery. As a consequence, yield response was largely insensitive to the imposed treatments, the cultivar being the dominant factor in terms of production, with cvs. Marta and Lauranne showing, on average, the highest and most stable kernel yields (1092 and 1164 kg ha⁻¹, respectively) in comparison to Guara (600 kg ha⁻¹) and Marcona (442 kg ha⁻¹). Overall, the results indicate a partial decoupling between physiological responses and yield performance, suggesting that almond productivity under RDI in OPS is primarily governed by genotype rather than by short-term physiological adjustments, supporting the viability of RDI strategies in with water savings of up to 45% without substantial yield penalties under Mediterranean conditions. Full article

Heavy metals are persistent environmental contaminants that accumulate in soils and vegetation, posing significant risks to ecological systems and human health. Pinus nigra needles are widely recognized as effective biomonitors for reflecting spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric heavy metal deposition. However, the complex, nonlinear interactions among multiple pollutants, environmental factors, and site-specific conditions limit the effectiveness of conventional statistical approaches in accurately modeling and predicting contamination patterns. This study investigated the spatial and seasonal distribution of heavy metals in soils and Pinus nigra needles across different environmental settings in Adıyaman, Türkiye, including urban traffic zones, an organized industrial area, a cement factory vicinity, and a clean reference site. Metal concentrations were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) following standardized acid digestion procedures. To address the limitations of traditional methods and capture complex nonlinear relationships, advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms—multilayer perceptron, Random Forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost, and Gradient Boosting—were employed to model elevation based on heavy metal concentrations. The dataset was divided into training (80%) and testing (20%) subsets, and model performance was evaluated using R², RMSE, MAE, MAPE, and EVS. Among the models, XGBoost exhibited superior predictive performance. Excluding Cd, Cr, and Cu, it achieved R² = 0.9996 (RMSE = 0.068) in training and R² = 0.9526 (RMSE = 17.77) in testing. Including these metals further improved performance to R² = 0.9999 (RMSE = 0.054) for training and R² = 0.9890 (RMSE = 5.55) for testing. The results confirm that Pinus nigra needles are reliable bioindicators of heavy metal accumulation. More importantly, the integration of biomonitoring data with ML techniques provides a powerful framework for capturing complex environmental interactions and improving predictive accuracy, thereby supporting more effective environmental monitoring, risk assessment, and sustainable management strategies. Full article

Saudi Arabia is a water-stressed nation and meets much of its daily demand through desalination, an energy-intensive process with a significant carbon footprint. As a Muslim-majority country, residents perform ablution before five daily prayers, making this activity a substantial yet under-quantified component of residential water use. This study focuses on household-level ablution water savings across 13 regions for both Saudi and non-Saudi households by replacing standard taps with a flow rate of 5.7 L/min with a proposed Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO)-compliant ultra-low-flow tap (1.9 L/min). Moreover, this study evaluates this ultra-low-flow tap as an environmental technology capable of reducing ablution water consumption and found that per capita savings are identical for both demographic segments, but the total household savings differ because Saudi households are larger, supporting sustainable water management. Results show that under the stated assumptions, full national adoption of the proposed tap would reduce monthly ablution water use from 27 million m³ to 9 million m³, conserving 212.14 million m³ annually with 67% efficiency and offsetting 702,198 tonnes of desalination-related carbon emissions. This highlights the effectiveness of deploying a simple water-saving technology in a water-stressed environment. Conservation potential is concentrated in Riyadh, Makkah, and the Eastern Province due to their high household counts. A four-year phased implementation roadmap is proposed, beginning with 25% adoption in year one (53.01 million m³ annual savings), expanding to moderate-impact regions in year two, and reaching 75–100% adoption nationwide by years three and four. The findings demonstrate how simple and commercially available water-efficient technology can contribute to sustainable resource management by simultaneously reducing water demand, energy consumption associated with desalination, and related greenhouse gas emissions. This study supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 water strategy and can potentially support UN-SDGs 6, 7, and 13 by demonstrating the substantial water, carbon, and economic benefits of a simple, commercially available tap of 400 SAR. In addition, the study develops a regionally prioritized technology deployment framework that can support decision makers in planning large-scale implementation. The analysis assumes that household members perform ablution five times daily for approximately one minute, based on field measurements, and they require validation of projected gains through actual implementation. Full article

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during solid-fuel combustion contribute to air pollution, secondary organic aerosol formation, and adverse environmental impacts. Improving the interpretation of VOC emissions is therefore important for developing more sustainable combustion systems and emission-monitoring strategies. Although online flame ionization detector systems enable continuous monitoring of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), the resulting measurements remain chemically non-specific and provide limited information about the composition of emitted mixtures. This study investigates whether data-driven approaches can improve the interpretation of TVOC signals generated during controlled solid-fuel combustion and proposes a descriptor-space-based pseudo-speciation framework. Continuous laboratory measurements of TVOCs and combustion parameters demonstrated that the integrated TVOC signal contains meaningful information about combustion dynamics, while preliminary machine-learning models confirmed that a substantial fraction of TVOC variability can be explained using routinely monitored process variables. To address the limited chemical specificity of TVOC measurements, principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering were applied to combustion-related VOCs described by molecular and physicochemical descriptors. The resulting framework organized VOCs into representative physicochemical groups, providing an intermediate interpretation layer between bulk TVOC measurements and compound-specific analysis. The proposed methodology demonstrates how artificial intelligence and chemoinformatics can enhance the interpretation of chemically non-specific TVOC signals and support more sustainable emission monitoring, combustion diagnostics, and environmental management. Full article

Background: Copper is a trace element involved in key physiological and biochemical processes in humans, animals, and plants, and its homeostasis is tightly regulated. However, excessive exposure may cause adverse health and environmental effects. Copper-based plant protection products contribute to dietary exposure to copper and remain indispensable for the control of several crop diseases. Methods: This review summarizes the current state scientific and regulatory evidence on agricultural copper, identifies major knowledge gaps, and discusses strategies to support its sustainable use. A structured literature review was conducted using the PECO framework to define eligibility criteria, while key principles of the PRISMA 2020 statement were applied to improve the transparency of study identification and selection. Results: The available evidence confirms the dual role of copper as an essential micronutrient and a potentially toxic element, with adverse effects depending on exposure level, chemical form, bioavailability, and physiological status. Although copper remains an effective agricultural tool, long-term use may promote soil accumulation and environmental impacts. Current environmental risk assessment frameworks, originally developed for organic chemicals, do not fully account for the environmental behavior of inorganic metals. The review also examines copper occurrence, biological functions, agricultural uses, environmental fate, toxicity, and regulatory frameworks. Conclusions: Sustainable copper use requires balancing crop protection benefits with human health and environmental protection. Dietary exposure from authorized copper-based PPPs is generally considered negligible according to current EFSA PRIMo assessments, whereas occupational exposure and environmental accumulation remain important concerns. Future environmental risk assessment frameworks should better account for the environmental fate, natural background concentrations, bioavailability, and speciation of inorganic metals such as copper, thereby improving the scientific basis of regulatory decision-making. Full article

Intensive dairy farm wastewater (DFW) poses significant environmental challenges due to its high organic loading and complex composition. Anaerobic co-digestion with sewage sludge (SS) offers a promising strategy for simultaneous pollutant removal and bioenergy recovery. However, the optimal inoculation ratio for maximizing both methane production and volatile fatty acid (VFA) accumulation remains unclear for liquid DFW following a solid–liquid separation. This study investigated the effects of three SS addition ratios (0%, 15%, and 45%) on anaerobic co-digestion performance. Daily methane production, cumulative yield, VFA composition, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were monitored over 26 days. The 45% SS treatment (S45) achieved the highest cumulative methane yield (2882.60 mL), representing 35.1% and 7.2% increases over S0 and S15. Modified Gompertz modeling confirmed S45 attained the highest methane potential (3056.8 mL) and production rate (569.8 mL/d), with the shortest lag phase (14.47 d). S45 also reached the highest total VFAs peak (2209.02 mg/L) on day 3, advancing acidification by 3 days. Process stability was maintained across all treatments (pH 6.94–8.44), with S45 showing the earliest pH recovery and lowest NH₄⁺-N accumulation. COD removal in S45 exceeded S0 by 25.1% at day 26. These findings indicate that 45% SS addition optimally balances methanogenic performance, acidogenic efficiency, and process stability in DFW anaerobic co-digestion. Full article

Contemporary built environments are increasingly constrained by limited spatial resources, rising density, and evolving functional requirements, demanding more adaptive and sustainable design strategies. Although multifunctional interior design is widely recognized for improving spatial efficiency, material reduction, and long-term adaptability, there remains a need for practice-based studies that examine how multifunctionality can be analyzed consistently across professional practice and design education in relation to sustainability. This practice-based qualitative study investigates how multifunctionality contributes to sustainability across the author’s professional practice and design education through a comparative analysis of professional projects and educational design experiments. The research adopts a qualitative, practice-based methodology combining the analysis of six professional projects from the author’s architectural practice with ninety educational design projects developed within an integrative architectural curriculum. These include multifunctional interior interventions, adaptive furniture systems, and digitally fabricated prototypes exploring small-scale renewable energy integration through solar-powered lighting and bio-inspired micro-structures developed within studio-based learning and digital fabrication courses. The comparative analysis identified recurring multifunctional design mechanisms operating across multiple scales, from furniture objects and interior systems to architectural interventions and concept-driven spatial identities. Beyond functional optimization, it acts as a generative design framework capable of integrating spatial organization, material efficiency, social interaction, and environmental responsiveness. The educational projects further suggest that multifunctionality can be effectively introduced as a pedagogical tool, supporting the development of spatial thinking and design adaptability. The main scientific contribution of this study is the development of a practice-based analytical framework that connects professional practice, project-based learning, and digital fabrication through multifunctionality as a common design strategy. This framework is characterized by a highly integrated cross-disciplinary structure, in which multiple subjects converge within the core Design Studio, enabling a continuous exchange between theory, practice, and experimentation. This approach strengthens the connection between academic learning and professional application. The results suggest that multifunctional interior design contributes to sustainability by reducing spatial redundancy, integrating multiple functions within single systems, supporting long-term adaptability, and encouraging more efficient use of material and spatial resources. These findings support the interpretation of multifunctionality as a transferable sustainability-oriented design strategy that connects professional practice, architectural education and emerging design technologies through recurring mechanisms of spatial optimization, resource efficiency, and long-term adaptability. Full article

The accumulation of shipwrecked wood in coastal ecosystems represents an important environmental challenge due to its effects on coastal dynamics, ecosystem functioning, and waste management. The valorization of this lignocellulosic residue through thermochemical conversion offers a sustainable alternative for transforming an underutilized biomass into value-added products. This study evaluated the potential of biochar produced from shipwrecked wood collected in the Punta Roca sector, municipality of Puerto Colombia (Atlántico), as an organic soil amendment. The methodology included the physicochemical characterization of the biochar, as well as analysis of its specific surface area (BET), morphology (SEM), and elemental composition (EDAX). Among the most relevant physicochemical results, the biochar exhibited an organic matter content of 87.85%, an alkaline pH of 10.29, and low moisture content (9.21%), suggesting stability and the capacity to modify soil acidity. Regarding specific surface area, the BET area increased significantly from 0.77 m²/g in untreated wood to 61.61 m²/g in the biochar, indicating a notable enhancement in adsorption capacity. Porosity analysis revealed a decrease in pore size, which may favor the retention of nutrients and water. Elemental composition analysis revealed a high carbon content (82.65%) and oxygen content (15.32%), accompanied by trace amounts of elements such as Na, Mg, Si, Cl, K, and Ca. These results confirm that biochar derived from shipwrecked wood possesses physicochemical characteristics suitable for application as an organic amendment in agricultural soils. Overall, these findings demonstrate that biochar derived from shipwrecked wood is a promising alternative not only as an organic soil amendment but also as a strategy for coastal waste valorization, the promotion of circular economy principles, and the development of more sustainable agricultural systems. Full article

The presence of toxic, corrosive, and environmentally harmful sulfur compounds within natural gas streams necessitates their removal to ensure compliance with fuel quality standards and regulations. Previous studies into MMOs (mixed metal-oxides) as adsorbents or catalysts for sulfur compound removal have generally focused on hydrogen sulfide (H₂S); however, few studies have assessed the removal of organic sulfur compounds such as ethyl mercaptans. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of various preparation routes on the performance of supported metal-oxide catalysts that remove ethyl mercaptans from natural gas; specifically, filtration-based and evaporation-based catalyst synthesis methods were investigated. A set of different catalysts—Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni, and a composite (Mn-Cu-Zn-Ni)—were prepared using filtration or evaporation solvent removal in this research and characterized by BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDS, and XPS, and their sulfur-removal performance was evaluated through fixed-bed breakthrough experiments under representative operating conditions (25 °C, 200 psi, 36 mL/min). The results demonstrate that catalysts prepared via evaporation consistently exhibit greater sulfur adsorption performance compared to catalysts prepared through filtration, which is consistent with improved surface oxide exposure. Structural characterization further showed that evaporation-assisted preparation promoted improved surface oxide development, greater surface heterogeneity, and more accessible surface morphologies. Among the investigated catalysts, evaporation-prepared Mn and Cu catalysts achieved the highest breakthrough times of approximately 1410 min and 1350 min, respectively, exceeding the commercial benchmark catalyst (1200 min) under identical operating conditions. These findings demonstrate that the evaporation method enables more effective utilization of surface metal-oxide active sites involved in sulfur adsorption and surface redox interactions. Overall, this work establishes evaporation as a superior and scalable preparation strategy for metal oxide catalysts and provides important structure-performance insights for the design of cost-effective catalysts for industrial natural gas desulfurization, particularly for the removal of organic sulfur compounds such as ethyl mercaptan from natural gas. Full article

Cultured meat aims to manufacture genuine animal tissue from cells in vitro, displacing the environmental and ethical liabilities of livestock slaughter. Because the final product must reproduce the fibre architecture, fat marbling, and nutrition of conventional meat, the cell—its identity, proliferative ceiling, and differentiation fidelity—is the central determinant of feasibility. This review consolidates the stem cell biology of cultured meat from a tissue engineering perspective. We first compare the principal cell sources: muscle satellite cells, which offer authentic myogenicity but limited expansion; pluripotent stem cells, which are effectively immortal but require directed differentiation; and mesenchymal, adipogenic, and fibro-adipogenic progenitors that supply fat and connective tissue. We then examine how myogenic and adipogenic commitment is controlled through growth-factor and small-molecule signalling, serum-free medium design, and co-culture strategies that recreate the multicellular composition of meat. We next survey biomaterial scaffolds—edible microcarriers, hydrogels, and decellularized plant matrices—that organize stem cells into anisotropic, perfusable, macroscale constructs, drawing on scaffold-design principles from regenerative medicine. Finally, we address bioreactor scale-up, medium cost, cell-line stability, and regulatory translation. We argue that cultured meat will advance fastest when cell source, differentiation protocol, and scaffold architecture are co-designed rather than optimized in isolation. Full article

Water management has become a critical dimension of sustainable architecture, as buildings increasingly interact with limited freshwater resources and energy-intensive water treatment systems. In this context, the present study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and review of scientific research addressing water management within sustainable buildings in order to assess the most important quantitative information about this topic and identify the most relevant research trends. A total of 3283 documents indexed in Scopus before 2024 were identified and analyzed through a two-stage approach combining bibliometric performance indicators and network analysis using SciMAT (v1.1.06). Publication trends, document types, leading countries, institutions, sources, and thematic distributions were examined, followed by analysis of the conceptual evolution of the field. Results revealed a sustained growth in scientific output, with engineering, environmental science, and materials science as the dominant subject areas. Keyword and cluster analyses identified construction materials and their water-related properties and water resource management as central research themes, while also highlighting the nexus between water, energy, and environmental impacts in building sustainability. Based on the bibliometric findings, a structured review of current research is presented following a circular-economy-oriented framework adapted to water, organized around three strategies: decreasing water demand, optimizing the use of non-conventional water resources, and retaining water through reuse. Full article