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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.