Research Terms
Keywords
Famu-Fsu College Of Engineering
Plant starter plugs are popularly used in urban farming, especially for aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics. They are small, compact mass of solid growing media for seed germination and their sponge-like consistency protects the delicate root structures of young plants to ensure safe transplanting into soil or soil-less growth media. Plant starter plugs provide a starter charge of nutrients to stimulate fast and healthy root growth and moisture control is crucial for their success. Water needs to be added appropriately so that the seed will germinate. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have the capacity to extract moisture from the atmosphere. If CNCs are used as components of plant starter plugs, moisture can be maintained with vapor water extracted from the atmosphere to meet the seed germination needs without watering the plugs. The use of CNCs for plant starter plugs depends largely on the source, composition, crystal and pore structure, and the preparation or fabrication method. CNCs can be designed for specific needs and moisture stability to meet the specific requirements.
Advantages
Microwave-mediated biochar and biochar-hydrogel composite production can provide an energy-efficient, timesaving, and environmentally friendly way for the synthesis of biochar and biochar-hydrogel composite. Microwave-mediated pyrolysis and polymerization are creating an alternative to the current methods of biochar and biochar-hydrogel composite synthesis. This invention includes microwave-mediated pyrolysis, polymerization and polymer modification. The rapid dipole rotation prompted by microwave irradiation introduces energy to the involved chemical reactions more efficiently. This significantly speeds up these chemical processes. Unlike conventional thermal heating, microwave irradiation can be performed at deliberately chosen temperatures in shifts. The reaction equilibrium and kinetics of the absorption of radiation is temperature independent. This process can also achieve stable thermodynamic properties of polymers with no further influence on other reactions. This helps to avoid the deformation of these polymers.
Advantages