In recent years, the scarcity of pure water resources has received a lot of attention from society because of the increasing amount of pollution from industrial waste. It is very important to use low-cost adsorbents with high-adsorption performance to reduce water pollution. In this work, a gel adsorbent with a high-adsorption performance on methylene blue (MB) and Cu(II) was prepared from bamboo nanocellulose (BCNF) (derived from waste bamboo paper) and montmorillonite nanosheet (MMTNS) cross-linked by polyethyleneimine (PEI). The resulting gel adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS), etc. The results indicated that the MB and Cu(II) adsorption capacities of the resulting gel adsorbent increased with the solution pH, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature before equilibrium. The adsorption processes of MB and Cu(II) fitted well with the fractal-like pseudo-second-order model. The maximal adsorption capacities on MB and Cu(II) calculated by the Sips model were 361.9 and 254.6 mg/g, respectively. The removal of MB and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions mainly included electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, hydrogen bonding interaction, etc. These results suggest that the resulting gel adsorbent is an ideal material for the removal of MB and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions.

Microwave-assisted Liquefaction of Rape Straw for the Production of Bio-oils

Yaupon holly is one of the most widespread woody underbrush species in the southeastern United States, and it can undermine forest health and safety due to its biofuel-like nature during catastrophic wildfires. Yaupon holly was subjected to microwave liquefaction to produce biobased polyurethane (PU) foam insulation. Liquefaction parameters were optimized and summarized as follows: 1) particle size was controlled in the range of 16- to 40- mesh; 2) both the ratios of glycerol to ethylene glycol and liquid to solid were set at 3:1; 3) the reaction process was conducted at 160 °C for 10 min and catalyzed by 1.5% sulfuric acid. The optimal liquefaction conversion yield was 94.9%. The Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) indicated the successful liquefaction and dissolution of wood essential components, i.e. hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin. The optimal liquefaction product with solid residue was used directly to produce biofoams. With an increased isocyanate index, the thermal insulation properties, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of biofoams increased. Therefore, a promising biobased PU foam was obtained at an isocyanate index of 150. The density, thermal conductivity, Young’s modulus, and compressive stress of the promising biofoam were 18.5 kg·m-3, 0.033 W·m-1·K-1, 176.7 kPa, and 15.4 kPa, respectively.

Secondary transportation of raw and comminuted forest products is a major component in forest harvesting operations in terms of economics, public perception, and safety. Consequently, there is a substantial amount of literature on this topic. The existing literature has dealt with many of the technical aspects of transportation with a majority of them focusing on improving supply chain issues; however, there are only few specific to secondary transportation issues in general. This annotated bibliography will help practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders gain a better understanding of the existing literature from 2000 to 2015. To this end, we began by classifying the selected literature into six themes: cost, roads and routes, trucking, efficiency and safety, other modes of transportation, and supply chain and optimization. Woody biomass for bioenergy production was the most researched forest product with respect to transportation. About one-third of the articles were presented in the context of supply chain modeling and optimization. More than half of the studies originated from Europe while the United States had the most publications for any given country. Most articles (16) were published in 2013. Biomass and Bioenergy published the highest number of articles (29) during the timeframe.

The use of chemical fungicides in agriculture has led to the need for more efficient and sustainable solutions. Controlled-release nanomaterials offer a promising approach by improving fungicide delivery and reducing the need for frequent applications. This study investigates the synthesis of a dual-responsive nanofungicide through the loading of carbendazim (MBC) into zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), etching with tannic acid (TA) and the introduction of pectin (PT) to synthesize the MBC@ZTA-PT. The pectin, which was extracted from sweet potato peels, was applied as an eco-friendly, biodegradable additive that enhanced the stability and controlled-release properties of nanofungicide. Tannic acid etching significantly improved MBC loading efficiency. The cumulative release rates after 96 h under three different conditions were 33.12% at pH 7, 59.00% at pH 7 with the addition of pectinase, and 70.74% at pH 5 with the addition of pectinase, highlighting the strong responsiveness of the nanofungicide to pH and enzyme triggers. This dual-response system provided controlled release, thereby enhancing MBC utilization efficiency and minimizing the environmental hazards associated with fungicide applications. The findings suggest that MBC@ZTA-PT represents a promising, environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable plant disease management.