The effect of synthesised IONPs employing a nontoxic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica as a reducing, capping, and stabilizing agent for increasing biogas and methane output from cattle manure during anaerobic digestion (AD) was investigated in this study. Furthermore, the UV-visible spectra examination of the synthesized nanoparticles revealed a high peak at 432 nm. Using a transmission electron microscope, the average particle size of IONPs observed was 30–80 nm, with irregular, ultra-small, semi-spherical shapes that were slightly aggregated and well-distributed. IONPs had a polydisparity index (PDI) of 219 nm and a zeta potential of −27.0 mV. A set of six bio-digesters were fabricated and tested to see how varying concentrations of IONPs (9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 mg/L) influenced biogas, methane output, and effluent chemical composition from AD at mesophilic temperatures (35 ± 2 °C). With 18 mg/L IONPs, the maximum specific biogas and methane production were 136.74 L/g of volatile solids (VS) and 64.5%, respectively, compared to the control (p < 0.05), which provided only 107.09 L/g and 51.4%, respectively. Biogas and methane production increased by 27.6% and 25.4%, respectively using 18 mg/L IONPs as compared to control. In all treatments, the pH of the effluent was increased, while total volatile fatty acids, total solids, volatile solids, organic carbon content, and dehydrogenase activity decreased. Total solid degradation was highest (43.1%) in cattle manure + 18 mg/L IONPs (T5). According to the results, the IONPs enhanced the yield of biogas and methane when compared with controls.

Itaconic acid is one of industrially important organic acid having wide application in environmental protection, food and textile industries. Microorganisms mainly fungi have vast potential to be exploited for itaconic acid production. But low yield and higher cost of production are major drawback creating a settle back for industrial production. This problem can be solved by using low cost organic waste as substrate. This review summarizes recent research on production of itaconic acid using organic wastes, microorganisms involved, extraction, application and problem faced during utilization of agro-industrial wastes.

Biopolymer based nanoformulation was synthesized by using microwave assisted nano-precipitaion method. The biopolymers consist of chitosan and guar gum were crosslinked using citric acid in order to encapsulate chlorpyrifos pesticide. The successful synthesis of chlorpyrifos containing nano-formulations was thoroughly examined, where the surface morphology examined by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) has established the loading of chlorpyrifos in the biopolymeric matrix, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination revealed the spherical shaped particles of about 234 nm and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis has confirmed the crosslinking between two biopolymers through citric acid due to the presence of peaks corresponding to ester linkages at 1730 cm-1. The encapsulation efficiency of chlorpyrifos at pH 7 and 30 ºC was around 50%. The successfully synthesized chlorpyrifos loaded biopolymeric nano-formulation were further utilized to study the release behaviour of chlorpyrifos in water and biocompatibility towards soil microbiota. The release of chlorpyrifos was almost 15% slower than conventional chlorpyrifos and the formulation was found biocompatible towards microbiota.