Front Matter

Ground penetrating radar is a well-established technique on civil engineering applications. The study case of a medieval masonry arch bridge that has suffered different building phases throughout history is presented. Given that the characterization of construction materials is crucial to the stability and durability of the structure, the identification of the most critical portions represents an important task. However, when evaluating complex and heterogeneous structures, the method still needs improvements and new developments in the interpretation of the reflection profiles produced. Thus, this work presents new numerical modelling approaches to improve the interpretation process, which combines data produced from different non-destructive methods. Photogrammetry was used to create large-scale models, and the characterization of the dielectric properties of media was performed from field GPR and infrared thermographic data.

This paper presents a solar power based liquid sprayer for agricultural applications, environmental applications and health care applications. The proposed liquid sprayer can be used for spraying pesticides in agricultural applications. It can be used for spraying the hypo liquid in environmental applications like killing the bacteria and insects in the street drainages. It can also be used for spraying the sanitizer in health care applications like killing the corona virus of COVID-19. The proposed sprayer uses solar power and solar energy as a source of power for spraying purpose. One person is sufficient for operating the proposed sprayer. The performance evaluation of the sprayer was carried out for spraying pesticide in different agricultural fields.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) are used in agriculture, cosmetics, energy, and environmental applications, necessitating advanced methods to evaluate their effects on biological systems such as plant growth. This study demonstrates the use of biospeckle optical coherence tomography (bOCT), a novel and non-invasive technique, to rapidly assess the size and concentration-dependent impacts of TiO2 NPs as well as the synergistic effects of TiO2 NPs and polyethylene microplastics (PEMPs) on lentil (Lens culinaris) seeds. The primary objective was to validate bOCT as a rapid and non-invasive tool for assessing NPs-induced biological responses in plants. Seeds were treated with TiO2 particles (<5 µm,<100 nm, 21 nm) at concentrations of 0, 25, 100, and 200 mg/L. The sizes were selected based on commercially available TiO2 NPs grades in industrial and agricultural applications. For synergy experiments, TiO2 NPs (21 nm) at 25 and 100 mg/L were combined with PEMPs (744–4990 nm) at concentration-based ratios of 1:1 and 1:2. A swept-source OCT system (central wavelength: 1.3 µm; bandwidth: 125 nm; sweep frequency: 20 kHz), acquired OCT structural images at 12.5 frames per second and biospeckle images were calculated as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean of 100 OCT structural images over an 8-second interval, at 0, 5, 10, and 20 hours (h) post-exposure. Smaller TiO2 NPs (<100 nm) enhanced internal activity at lower concentrations (25 mg/L), while larger particles (<5 µm) exhibited similar effects at higher concentrations (200 mg/L). These observations were qualitatively consistent with conventional physiological measurements, including germination rates, growth parameters, and antioxidative enzyme activities recorded over 7 days. The co-application of TiO2 NPs and PEMPs at a 1:1 ratio alleviated the reduction in internal activity caused by PEMPs alone, while the 1:2 ratio led to a significant decrease in biospeckle contrast, indicating suppressed internal seed activity. bOCT successfully detected early biological responses of TiO2 NPs within 20 h, demonstrating its efficiency compared to the conventional methods. The ability of bOCT to monitor dynamic internal changes highlights its potential as a rapid tool for assessing NPs as well as their synergistic effects with polyethylene microplastics on plants.

Geotextiles, a group of high-performance materials, have grown during the last decades into needful auxiliaries when it comes to infrastructure, soil, construction, agriculture and environmental applications. Although geotextiles made of synthetic fibers (geosynthetics) are considered a modern achievement, the basic concept dates back to ancient times when textiles consisting of locally available natural fibers were employed to increase the stability of roads and soils. In recent decades, considering the growing interest in environmental protection and sustainable development based on using renewable resources and the recovery and recycling of waste of various origins, the use of natural fibers-based geotextiles is a viable alternative, despite their limited-life service owing to their biodegradability. In addition to this feature, their low cost, good mechanical properties and large-scale accessibility recommend them for geo-engineering applications, environmental sensitive applications in geotechnical engineering, such as land improvements and soil erosion control. This paper focuses on geotextiles as a versatile tool in environmental applications given their high theoretic and practical relevance as substantiated by recent literature reports. Natural and synthetic geotextiles are presented herein, as well as their features that recommend them for geo-engineering. Insights on the main types of applications of geotextiles are also included, along with a wide variety of materials employed to perform specific functions.

Many applications of synthetic biology require biological systems in engineered microbes to be delivered into diverse environments, such as for in situ bioremediation, biosensing, and applications in medicine and agriculture. To avoid harming the target system (whether that is a farm field or the human gut), such applications require microbial biocontainment systems (MBSs) that inhibit the proliferation of engineered microbes. In the past decade, diverse molecular strategies have been implemented to develop MBSs that tightly control the proliferation of engineered microbes; this has enabled medical, industrial, and agricultural applications in which biological processes can be executed in situ. The customization of MBSs also facilitate the integration of sensing modules for which different compounds can be produced and delivered upon changes in environmental conditions. These achievements have accelerated the generation of novel microbial systems capable of responding to external stimuli with limited interference from the environment. In this review, we provide an overview of the current approaches used for MBSs, with a specific focus on applications that have an immediate impact on multiple fields.

Aminopolycarboxylates, like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), are chelating agents widely used in several industrial, agricultural, and domestic applications. However, the fact that they are not biodegradable leads to the presence of considerable amounts in aquatic systems, with serious environmental consequences. The replacement of these compounds by biodegradable alternatives has been the object of study in the last three decades. This paper reviews the most relevant studies towards the use of environmentally friendly chelating agents in a large number of applications: oxidative bleaching, detergents and cleaning compositions, scale prevention and reduction, remediation of soils, agriculture, electroplating, waste treatment, and biocides. Nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS), and iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) are the most commonly suggested to replace the nonbiodegradable chelating agents. Depending on the application, the requirements for metal complexation might differ. Metal chelation ability of the most promising compounds [NTA, EDDS, IDS, methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA), L-glutamic acid N,N-diacetic acid (GLDA), ethylenediamine-N,N'-diglutaric acid (EDDG), ethylenediamine-N,N'-dimalonic acid (EDDM), 3-hydroxy-2,2-iminodisuccinic acid (HIDS), 2-hydroxyethyliminodiacetic acid (HEIDA), pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDA)] with Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, Ca, and Mg was simulated by computer calculations. The advantages or disadvantages of each compound for the most important applications were discussed.

Among the Earth Observation (EO) instruments used in environmental and agricultural applications, the SPOT4-VEGETATION (SPOT4-VGT) instrument allows daily monitoring of terrestrial vegetation cover through remote sensing, at regional and global levels. The characterization of the geometric and radiometric performances of remote sensing data and their temporal stability play an important role in the analysis of EO images and are essential in environmental and agricultural monitoring applications. The validation and characterization of the SPOT4-VGT image geometric performances and temporal stability are investigated in this letter. Three time series of data acquired during 1999, 2000 and 2001 were used for this purpose. These images were downlinked by several VGT L-band receiving stations and processed by the SPACE-VGT software. From analyses made, it can be concluded that the geometric characteristics of the VGT L-band images agree with the VGT International User Committee requirements: the multispectral registration has a root mean square (RMS) error in the range of 0.25±0.17 pixels for B2, B3 and MIR bands, and 0.48±0.21 pixels for B0 band; the multi-temporal registration has a RMS error in the range of 0.38±0.23 pixels; and the absolute geo-location has a RMS error in the range of ±660 m.

The in situ and cleaner electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through two-electron oxygen reduction reaction has drawn increasing attentions in environmental applications as an alterantive to traditional anthraquinone process. Air cathodes avoid the need of aeration, but face the challenges of declined performance during scale-up due to non-uniform water infiltration or even water leakage, which is resulted from changing water pressures and immature cathode fabrication at a large scale. To address these challenges, a three-dimensional (3-D) floating air cathode (FAC) was built around the commercial sponge, by coating with carbon black/poly(tetrafluoroethylene) using a simple dipping-drying method. The FAC floated on the water-air interface without extensive water-proof measures, and could utilize oxygen both from passive diffusion and anodic oxygen evolution to produce H2O2. The FAC with six times of dipping treatment produced a maximum H2O2 concentration of 177.9 ± 26.1 mg L−1 at 90 min, with low energy consumption of 7.1 ± 0.003 Wh g−1 and stable performance during 10 cycles of operation. Our results showed that this 3-D FAC is a promising approach for in situ H2O2 production for both environmental remediation and industrial applications.

X-ray based methods for non-destructive testing and material characterization

Continuous Fiber Ceramic Composites (CFCC) are a new class of materials that are lighter, stronger, more corrosion resistant, and capable of performing at elevated temperatures. This new type of material offers the potential to meet the demands of a variety of industrial, military, and aerospace applications. The Department of Energy Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) has a new program on CFCCs for industrial applications and this program has requested an inventory of all federal projects on CFCCs that relate to their new program. The purpose of this project is to identify all other ongoing CFCC research to avoid redundancy in the OIT Program. The inventory will be used as a basis for coordinating with the other ongoing ceramic composite projects. The inventory is divided into two main parts. The first part is concerned with CFCC supporting technologies projects and is organized by the categories listed below. (1) Composite Design; (2) Materials Characterization; (3) Test Methods; (4) Non-Destructive Evaluation; (5) Environmental Effects; (6) Mechanical Properties; (7) Database Life Prediction; (8) Fracture/Damage; and (9) Joining. The second part has information on component development, fabrication, and fiber-related projects.

Characterization of biosurfactants produced by novel strains of Ochrobactrum anthropi HM-1 and Citrobacter freundii HM-2 from used engine oil-contaminated soil

ZnO tetrapod materials for functional applications

Scale-up fabrication of a biodegradable PBAT/PLA composite film compatibilized with a chain extender for industrial agricultural mulch film application

Leaching characterization of dry flue gas desulfurization materials produced from different flue gas sources in China

Microbial nanotechnology is currently helping to address human needs in many areas of life. One of these fields is the production of cellulose nanomaterials, which are used in many medical, agricultural, environmental and industrial applications. In this study, the novel strain Aspergillus nidulans optical density 1 (OD1) was isolated as cellulolytic fungus that has the ability to convert cellulose into nanocellulose through partial degradation under optimized conditions. The optimization conditions include incubation of fungal pellets with the microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) for 4 h at pH 6 with addition of 1 mM of Zn and 2 mM of Mn ions. Furthermore, feedback inhibition for exocellulase and B-glucosidase activity was performed to the concentrated cellulases of A. nidulans in order to prevent the complete degradation of cellulose, hence increasing nanocellulose yield. The better results of enzyme feedback inhibition were obtained due to addition of 1% of cellobiose and 2% glucose for the enzyme/MCC mixture for 4 h. The concentrated A. nidulans cellulases were applied to produce nanocellulose from cotton fibers as well as rice straw as common agricultural cellulosic materials and wastes. According to Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and particle size distribution, the average particle sizes of nanocellulose were (9–20) nm and (2–17) nm for cotton fibers and rice straw wastes, respectively. The obtained results revealed that nanocellulose can be biosynthesized using fungal cellulases produced under optimized conditions using cellulosic materials available as agricultural wastes. Further investigation of the produced cellulose nanomaterials can be conducted to demonstrate its compatibility with various medical, environmental, and industrial applications.