Pretreatment and codigestion are proven to be effective strategies for the enhancement of the anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic residues. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of pretreatment and codigestion on methane production and the hydrolysis rate in the anaerobic digestion of agricultural wastes (AWs). Thermal and different thermochemical pretreatments were applied on AWs. Sewage sludge (SS) was selected as a cosubstrate. Biochemical methane potential tests were performed by mixing SS with raw and pretreated AWs at different mixing ratios. Hydrolysis rates were estimated by the best fit obtained with the first-order kinetic model. As a result of the experimental and kinetic studies, the best strategy was determined to be thermochemical pretreatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). This strategy resulted in a maximum enhancement in the anaerobic digestion of AWs, a 56% increase in methane production, an 81.90% increase in the hydrolysis rate and a 79.63% decrease in the technical digestion time compared to raw AWs. On the other hand, anaerobic codigestion (AcoD) with SS was determined to be ineffective when it came to the enhancement of methane production and the hydrolysis rate. The most suitable mixing ratio was determined to be 80:20 (Aws/SS) for the AcoD of the studied AWs with SS in order to obtain the highest possible methane production without any antagonistic effect.

Among the various methods for the preparation of nanoparticles, a sparking process at atmospheric pressure is of interest because it is a simple method for producing nanoparticles ranging from a few nanometer-sized particles to agglomerated film structures. In this research, we studied the effects of metal electrode properties on nanoparticle sizes. The experiments were carried out by applying a high voltage to different metal sparkling tips. The transfer of energies from positive ions and electron bombardments induced the melting and vaporization of electrode metals. Based on this research, we have developed a model to describe the formation of a nanoparticle film on the substrate, placed under the sparking gap, and the nanostructure produced by metal vapor on the sparking electrodes. The model provides a realistic tool that can be used for the design of a large-scale coating and the application of nanoparticles developed by this process for the filtration of PM2.5 mask fabric by air.

We examine the influence of the magnetic field on the chemical reaction of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in sparking electric discharge of zinc wires. Samples are prepared on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and quartz substrates in the form of thin films at 0 T, 0.2 T and 0.4 T. Different chemical composition of thin-films prepared by sparking discharge was obtained and verified by XPS, Raman and Cyclic voltammetry. Carbon dioxide conversion to carbonates was observed for zinc sparked in CO₂ and nitrogen affecting crystallization of thin films was confirmed by XRD. Synthesis route for thin-film preparation used in this study is electric sparking discharge, convenient for fast ionization of metal and gasses. Band gap energy of thin films prepared by this method was starting from 2.81 eV and 4.24 eV, with the lowest band gaps prepared on ITO in 0.4 T. Differential Mobility Analysis (DMA) indicates smaller particles are fabricated by discharging zinc wires in a higher magnetic field. Nitridification of zinc nanoparticles occurred on 0.2 Tesla magnetic field strength and it was detectable even after XPS ion gun etching. Carbonation and nitridification of zinc thin films by sparking wires inside the magnetic field to observe the effect of the magnetic field on bandgap and chemical composition are confirmed by XPS.

Products of ionised/vaporised iron and excited nitrogen gas were obtained via a sparking process in different magnetic fields.