Biodegradable mulches (BDMs) are considered promising alternative green materials to achieve the substitution of polythene (PE) films to reduce plastic pollution. However, whether the BDMs are sufficiently effective to promote cotton production as PE film is a controversial topic. In this study, laboratory determination and field experiments were conducted with one pure Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) film (BDM), two commercial PBAT-based films (BDM1 and BDM2), and one PE film to (ⅰ) compare the degradation behavior, morphology, and property changes during field application, and (ⅱ) reveal their effects on biomass accumulation and cotton yield. Degradation behavior, degradation rate, structure, thermal stability, crystallinity, and molecular weight changes of the films before and after mulching were investigated and characterized. Water vapor transmission rate and mechanical properties of the films and the effects these on soil temperature, crop growth, and cotton yield were discussed. Results show that the three PBAT-based mulch films gradually degraded during mulching. The molecular weight, thermal stability, and crystallinity of BDM1 and BDM2 decreased. Interestingly, BDM showed the opposite characteristics, but the degradation degree was greatest at harvest. PE film showed no significant changes in its microscopic appearance, thermal performance, or properties. These PBAT-based films were positively correlated with the complete coverage period of the films. In-depth studies focused on BDMs with a longer mulching period must be developed to promote the substitution of BDMs into PE to reduce the residual mulch pollution in cotton fields.

Construction wood has a high economic value, and its construction waste also has multiple consumption values. Natural wood has many advantages, such as thermal, environmental, and esthetic properties; however, wood sourced from artificial fast-growing forests is found to be deficient in mechanical strength. This shortcoming makes it less competitive in certain applications, leading many markets to remain dominated by non-renewable materials. To address this issue, various modification methods have been explored, with a focus on enhancing the plasticity and strength of wood. Studies have shown that hydrogen bonds in the internal structure of wood have a significant impact on its operational performance. Whether it is organic modification, inorganic modification, or a combination thereof, these methods will lead to a change in the shape of the hydrogen bond network between the components of the wood or will affect the process of its breaking and recombination, while increasing the formation of hydrogen bonds and related molecular synergistic effects and improving the overall operational performance of the wood. These modification methods not only increase productivity and meet the needs of efficient use and sustainable environmental protection but also elevate the wood industry to a higher level of technological advancement. This paper reviews the role of hydrogen bonding in wood modification, summarizes the mechanisms by which organic, inorganic, and composite modification methods regulate hydrogen bond networks, discusses their impacts on wood mechanical properties, dimensional stability, and environmental sustainability, and provides an important resource for future research and development.

Superior strong and tough structural materials are highly desirable in engineering applications. However, it remains a big challenge to combine these two mutually exclusive mechanical properties into one body. In the work, an ultrastrong and tough cellulosic material was fabricated by a two-step process of delignification and water molecule-induced hydrogen bonding under compression. The strong and tough cellulosic material showed enhanced tensile strength (352 MPa vs. 56 MPa for natural wood) and toughness (4.1 MJ m⁻³ vs. 0.42 MJ m⁻³ for natural wood). The mechanical behaviors of ultrastrong and tough bulk material in a tensile state were simulated by finite element analysis (FEA) using mechanical parameters measured in the experiment. FEA results showed that the tensile strength and toughness gradually simultaneously improved with the increase in moisture content, demonstrating that water molecules played an active role in fabricating strong and tough materials, by plasticizing and forming hydrogen bonding among cellulose nanofibrils.

Context: Biochar can affect the storage and forms of nitrogen; thus, it may also play a role in altering the nitrogen cycle during the fermentation process of cow dung into organic fertilizer. Objective: To elucidate the mechanism and process of nitrogen transformation during the composting of cow manure with biochar, a comparative experiment was conducted. Method: This study investigates the use of biochar as a medium to enhance nitrogen storage during the aerobic composting of cow manure. The effectiveness was verified through a rapid composting experiment. Result and Conclusions: The results demonstrated that adding 5% biochar to the compost pile increased the total nitrogen content in manure by 12%. Specifically, the pyrrolic nitrogen in the composted cow manure increased from 38% to 44%, and the carbon-nitrogen ratio improved from 35% to 37%. Analysis of surface functional groups indicated that the C=O and C=C bonds in biochar played a key role in modifying nitrogen storage. Microbial analysis showed that biochar could significantly enhance the regional competitiveness of microorganisms, such as Cellvibrio, thereby boosting the expression of functional genes involved in the nitrification process, including amoABC, hao, and nxrAB. Therefore, adding 5% biochar not only enhances nitrogen storage in organic fertilizer but also changes the microbial population structure. Significance: This study carries substantial implications for the application of Biochar in the field, as well as for the development of microbial fertilizers based on cow manure.

Flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF) is widely used in buffer protection, biomedical, and wearable fields due to its light weight, high resilience, and adjustable mechanical properties. However, the traditional water foaming system is often accompanied by bottleneck problems such as cyclic fatigue attenuation, insufficient thermal stability, and surface hydrophilicity while achieving low density. In this study, a dense Si-O-Si cross-linked layer was in situ constructed on the surface of the foam by systematically regulating the water content of the foaming agent (1.5~2.5 wt%) and coupling with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) chemical vapor deposition. Experiments show that the foam foamed with 2 wt% water content still maintains 0.0466 MPa compressive strength and 0.0532 MPa compressive modulus (modulus loss is only 16.6%) after 500 cycles of compression at 90% strain after MTMS deposition. MTMS modification drives the surface wettability to change from hydrophilic (70.4°) to hydrophobic (128.7°), and significantly improves thermal stability (the carbon residue rate at 800 °C increased to 25.5%, an increase of 59.4%). This study not only improves the resilience, but also endows the FPUF surface with hydrophobicity and thermal protection ability, which provides the feasibility for its wide application.

Lignin is a promising bio-based filler for poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), yet its true contribution to biodegradation remains unclear—most studies rely on weight loss alone, neglecting CO₂ mineralization and lignin’s antibacterial activity. Here, lignin/PBAT composites with 1 wt% (LP-1) and 3 wt% (LP-2) lignin are assessed under composting conditions using both weight loss and mineralization rate. Lignin exhibits a dual role: it promotes hydrolytic weight loss (18.3% and 28.6% for LP-1 and LP-2 at 40 days), but significantly inhibits ultimate mineralization (one-year mineralization: 65.71% for pure PBAT vs. 48.74% and 29.53% for LP-1 and LP-2). A negative initial mineralization rate suggests transient antibacterial activity from released phenolic compounds. Lignin increases crystallization temperature (48.4 → 92.6 °C) and T_g (−28.5 → 49.1 °C), with 1% loading largely preserving mechanical properties. These findings demonstrate that weight loss alone is insufficient to assess degradation; mineralization must be included. Appropriate lignin loading enables balanced performance and degradation controllability, offering new insights into lifecycle assessment of green composites.