Jianan Wang^1,*, Yikuan Fan², Weidong Duan³, Zhaopeng Song¹

Energy Engineering, Vol.121, No.11, pp. 3401-3415, 2024, DOI:10.32604/ee.2024.055158 - 21 October 2024

Abstract Since pure tobacco stalk (TS) biomass pellet fuels tend to slag, five anti-slagging agents were added to the crushed TS to obtain a pellet fuel that could be used in biomass burners to provide heat for tobacco curing. The obtained results revealed that the main component of TS pellet fuel was K₂Si₂O₅. During fuel combustion process, additives generated higher melting point silicate compounds by Al–K, Ca–K, and Ca–K elemental structures to replace single K elemental structure of TS, enhancing the anti-slagging efficiency of the pellet fuel from 21.63% to 78.29% and promoting the precipitation of K, More >

Asmat Askar^1,#, Humaira Gul^1,#, Mamoona Rauf¹, Muhammad Arif², Bokyung Lee³, Sajid Ali^4,*, Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei⁵, Mikhlid H. Almutairi⁵, Zahid Ali Butt⁶, Ho-Youn Kim⁷, Muhammad Hamayun^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.9, pp. 2455-2478, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.054508 - 30 September 2024

Abstract Drought stress negatively impacts agricultural crop yields. By using mineral fertilizers and chemical regulators to encourage plant development and growth, its impact can be mitigated. The current study revealed that exogenous silicon (Si) (potassium silicate; K₂Si₂O₅ at 1000 ppm) and molybdenum (Mo) (ammonium molybdate; (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂4•4H₂O at 100 ppm) improved drought tolerance in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd). The research was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three biological replicates. The treatments comprised T0 (control, water spray), T4 (drought stress), and T1, T2, T3, T5, T6, and T7, i.e., foliar applications of silicon and molybdenum solutions individually… More >

Wenqi Zhao¹, Wenbin Sun^1,2,3,*, Zhenbo Cao¹, Jianbang Hao¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.7, pp. 3073-3089, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.026409 - 05 June 2023

Abstract Mine grouting reinforcement and water plugging projects often require large amounts of grouting materials. To reduce the carbon emission of grouting material production, improve the utilization of solid waste from mining enterprises, and meet the needs of mine reinforcement and seepage control, a double-liquid grouting material containing a high admixture of coal gangue powder/bottom ash geopolymer was studied. The setting time, fluidity, bleeding rate, and mechanical properties of grouting materials were studied through laboratory tests, and SEM analyzed the microstructure of the materials. The results show that the total mixture of calcined gangue does not More >

Yiwen Zhang¹, Jianjun Xie^1,*, Minghui Sun¹, Shaolong Wang¹, Tengfei Xu^2,3, Yonggen Xu^2,3, Xiaoqing Ding^2,3, Ying Shi¹, Lei Zhang¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.5, pp. 2125-2141, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.025127 - 13 February 2023

Abstract Foam glass is a kind of green building material that is widely used because of its excellent thermal insulation and mechanical properties. In this study, the borosilicate foam glass was fabricated by powder sintering method using recycled soda lime waste glass, quartz, and borax as the primary raw materials. CaCO₃ was used as a foaming agent and Na₂CO₃ as a flux agent. Results showed that as the quartz content decreases from 30 to 17.5 wt.% and borax content increases from 5 to 17.5 wt.%, the pore size, porosity, and thermal insulation of borosilicate foam glass increase significantly, while… More > Graphic Abstract

Xiaoqian Bi¹, Pengfei Guan¹, Ping Li^2,*, Yuan Zhang¹, Xingong Li¹, Yingfeng Zuo^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.5, pp. 2399-2415, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.026656 - 13 February 2023

Abstract Sodium silicate modification can improve the overall performance of wood. The modification process has a great influence on the properties of modified wood. In this study, a new method was introduced to analyze the wood modification process, and the properties of modified wood were studied. Poplar wood was modified with sodium silicate by vacuum-pressure impregnation. After screening using single-factor experiments, an orthogonal experiment was carried out with solution concentration, impregnation time, impregnation pressure, and the cycle times as experimental factors. The modified poplar with the best properties was selected by fuzzy mathematics and characterized by… More > Graphic Abstract

Hosny Abdel Aziz¹, Mohamed Sharaf^2,3, Magdy Omar⁴, Ahmed Abou El-Yazied⁵, Nada Ibrahim AlJwaizea⁶, Shaimaa Ismail⁵, Mohamed M. A. Omar⁷, Khadiga Alharbi^6,*, Amr Elkelish^8,9, Moataz Tawfik¹⁰

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 1019-1036, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026769 - 06 January 2023

Abstract Drought stress has become more common in recent years as a result of climate change impacts on the production of banana crops and other fruit trees. The growth and productivity of Musa spp are severely impacted by the gradual degradation of water resources and the erratic distribution pattern of annual precipitation amount. The aim of the work includes increased drought tolerance in light of water scarcity in the world as a result of the bananas’ being gluttonous for water needs. This investigation was carried out from 2019 to 2020 to study the effect of potassium silicate… More >

Waleed Awadalseed¹, Honghua Zhao¹, Hemei Sun², Ming Huang³, Cong Liu^4,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.4, pp. 1911-1935, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.025100 - 01 December 2022

Abstract This study examined the effects of using bagasse ash in replacement of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in the treatment of expansive soils. The study concentrated on the compaction characteristics, volume change, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, microstructure, California bearing ratio (CBR) value, and shear wave velocity of expansive soils treated with cement. Different bagasse ash replacement ratios were used to create soil samples. At varying curing times of 7, 14, and 28 days, standard compaction tests, unconfined compressive strength tests, CBR tests, Brazilian split tensile testing, and bender element (BE) tests were carried out. According… More >

Hengjiao Gao¹, Yuqing Xiong^1,*, Kaifeng Zhang¹, Shengzhu Cao¹, Mingtai Hu¹, Yi Li¹, Ping Zhang², Xiaoli Liu³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.4, pp. 1715-1729, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.024023 - 01 December 2022

Abstract The interface properties of Fe(101)/zinc silicate modified by organo-siloxane (KH-570) was studied by using the method of molecular dynamics simulation. By calculating the temperature and energy fluctuation of equilibrium state, equilibrium concentration distribution, MSD of layer and different groups, and interaction energy of two interface models, the influencing mechanism on the interface properties of adding organosiloxane into coating system was studied at the atomic scale. It shows that the temperature and energy of interface oscillated in a small range and it was exited in a state of dynamic equilibrium within the initial simulation stage (t More > Graphic Abstract

YOLANDA GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA¹, VALERIA FLORES-ROBLES², GREGORIO CADENAS-PLIEGO³, ADALBERTO BENAVIDES-MENDOZA⁴, MARCELINO CABRERA DE LA FUENTE⁴, ALBERTO SANDOVAL-RANGEL⁴, ANTONIO JUÁREZ-MALDONADO^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.11, pp. 2497-2506, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.021861 - 07 July 2022

Abstract The metabolic activity of the fruits continues even after harvest, which results in the loss of bioactive compounds, a decrease in the quality of the fruits, softening and browning, among other negative effects. The use of certain elements such as silicon can improve postharvest quality, since it is involved in the metabolic, physiological and structural activity of plants, moreover can increase the quality of the fruits. In addition, nanotechnology has had a positive impact on crop yield, nutritional value, fruit quality and can improve antioxidant activity. For these reasons, the use of beneficial elements such… More >

Pengfei Guan¹, Ping Li², Yiqiang Wu¹, Xingong Li¹, Guangming Yuan¹, Yingfeng Zuo^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.9, pp. 2451-2463, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.020459 - 30 May 2022

Abstract To enhance mechanical properties and improve flame retardancy and smoke suppression of fast-growing poplar wood in wood applications, the wood was impregnated and modified. An organic phenolic prepolymer and inorganic sodium silicate was used as contrasting impregnation modifiers and wood samples were impregnated by a bionic “respiration” method with alternating positive and negative pressure. The weight percentage gain, density increase ratio, mechanical properties (bending and compressive strength and hardness), and water absorption rate of inorganic and organic-impregnated modified poplar wood (IIMPW and OIMPW, respectively) were compared and these properties in IIMPW were found to be… More >