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The use of waste and locally available materials could improve the sustainability of green roofs. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the potential of a rice hulls in the organic and inorganic portion of green roof substrates. Three substrate mixtures were prepared at the site by mixing locally available materials. The substrate mixtures were designated as RPZV (rice hulls 6:1; pumice and zeolite mixture 2:1; vermicompost 2:1 by volume), PZR (rice hulls 2:1; pumice and zeolite 8:1), and PZV (pumice and zeolite 8:1; vermicompost 2:1). Measurements were performed including plant growth index, chlorophyll fluorescence, biomass accumulation on native and exotic plant species. Increased amounts of rice hulls in the substrate mixture had a significant effect on reducing bulk density up to 24%, increasing organic matter content up to 67% and maximum water holding capacity (WHC) of the substrate, but also had the lowest volumetric moisture values in the field measurements due to increased porosity and permeability of the substrate.  Adversely, substrate mixtures with higher rice hull content experienced greater temperature fluctuations during the study period, which have resulted in increased plant mortality and stress for certain plant species during the study. As the organic part of the substrate, rice hulls caused a decrease on the salinity of the substrate by about 28% and provided higher survival rates and lower stress levels for A.schoenoprasum, C.creticus, L.spectabilis, D.chinensis and Sedum species. The results of the study suggested that, rice hulls may have the potential to be used in appropriate proportions due to their low bulk density, low salinity and resistance to degradation, leading to a reduction in the environmental impact of green roof construction.

Continuous cultivation in solar greenhouses degrades black soil, leading to soil-borne diseases, nutrient imbalances, reduced porosity, and microbial dysbiosis, all of which collectively decrease crop productivity. Improving soil structure and microbial balance often requires costly amendments that are inconsistent in their effectiveness. This study evaluated two low-cost soil amendments—carbonized rice hull (CRH) and fermented rice hull (FRH)—using colored pepper as a model crop. Treatments included soil mixed with 30% CRH (T1), 30% FRH (T2), and untreated black soil (CK). Both amendments significantly improved soil physical properties. Compared with CK, soil porosity increased by 8.80% in T1 and 17.84% in T2, while water-holding capacity increased by 75.32% and 133.45%, respectively. Soil microbial richness, as indicated by Abundance-based Coverage Estimator (ACE) and Chao indices, followed the order T2 > T1 > CK. Plant physiological performance was also enhanced. Net photosynthetic rate increased by 7.18% (T1) and 15.33% (T2), plant height increased by 14.42% (T1) and 28.85% (T2), and root activity improved significantly. Fruit weight increased by 15.33% in T1 and 21.62% in T2. Both rice hull amendments improved soil quality and promoted crop growth, with FRH performing consistently better. These findings indicate that fermented rice hull is a promising, low-cost strategy for greenhouse soil remediation.

This study synthesized microcapsules of sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate (STP) using hybrid shells composed of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and nanosilica (nS) derived from rice hull ash (RHA). Despite its suitability as a cost-effective Phase Change Material (PCM), STP has been primarily used unencapsulated in many applications. Microencapsulation techniques for inorganic hydrates predominantly rely on TEOS, an alkoxysilane, as a precursor for forming the protective shell. Here, STP was microencapsulated with hybrid nS:TEOS shells at 25, 50, 75, and 100 mol% nS. Each substitution achieved varying levels of success, wherein the 75 %nS shell formulation exhibited the most desirable result. Microcapsules formed from the formulation had a latent heat of melting of 76.44 J/g, a latent heat of solidification of -43.19 J/g, and an encapsulation efficiency of 36.74 %. The heterogeneity of the hybrid shell mitigated the fragility associated with pure TEOS and the supercooling issues found in mPCMs with 100 %nS shells. The resulting mPCMs offer a sustainable passive thermal regulation solution in many applications, including climate-responsive materials. The use of nS derived from RHA not only lowers environmental impact and material costs but also directly supports circular economy and key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically 7, 12, & 13.

Food waste is generated in large amounts locally and globally, and requires expenditure for disposal. However, it has high nutritional value and almost no toxic components. Therefore, it can be returned to mushroom mediums for further use, leading to food waste circulation. Though disposing of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) after harvesting is an additional problem, there have been increased efforts to compost it and apply it to the soil for growing vegetables. This study, therefore, aimed to optimize (1) mushroom spawn production with rice hull, (2) mushroom substrates using food waste to accelerate food waste recycling, and (3) the utilization of SMS as an organic fertilizer. An optimal substrate composition and high yield were obtained at 120–140 g of food waste per bag among substrates from Pleorutus ostreatus and Pleorutus citrinopileatus; therefore, using a high ratio of food waste in the mushroom mediums was achieved. On the other hand, the SMS of P. citrinopileatus demonstrated higher plant biomass growth, at 36 g, than that of P. ostreatus, at 21.2 g, in a treatment using SMS + okara. The present discovery is that people may be encouraged to be mindful of food loss by the delivery of mushrooms and plants grown from agro/food waste to the dining table, and this circular system may therefore be used as a key resource in mushroom and plant cultivation and to achieve a zero-emission cycle.

Purpose Biochar application has been shown to be effective in improving soil fertility and sequestering soil contaminants. However, the impact of biochar amendments on the environmental fate of pesticides and the bioavailability of pesticides to living organisms in the soil environment is still not fully understood. Materials and methods Dissipation of fomesafen and its bioavailability to corn ( Zea mays L.) and the earthworm Eisenia fetida in an agricultural soil amended with three different rates of rice hull biochar (0.5, 1, and 2 % ( w/w )) under laboratory conditions was investigated. Results and discussion Biochar amendment significantly increased the DT 50 of fomesafen from 34 days in unamended soil to 160 days in 2 % biochar-amended soil. Furthermore, biochar amendment decreased fomesafen concentration in soil pore water resulting in lower plant uptake of the pesticide. In this case, total plant residue and soil pore water concentrations of fomesafen in 2 % biochar-amended soil decreased to 0.29 % and 0.28–45 % of that in the control, respectively. Similar results were obtained for bioavailability of fomesafen in earthworms, as the earthworm residue and soil pore water concentration of fomesafen in 2 % biochar-amended soil declined to 0.38–45 and 0.47–0.50 % compared to the level of the control, respectively. Conclusions As biochar could markedly reduce the concentration of fomesafen in soil pore water and subsequently reduce plant and earthworm uptake of fomesafen from contaminated soil, biochar amendment could be considered an appropriate option for immobilizing fomesafen in soils, protecting nontarget organisms from fomesafen contamination.

Economic and environmental concerns limit peat use for substrate production, promoting interest in alternative materials. Hence, in this study, 16 substrates were obtained by mixing, in a factorial combination, eight substrates with different ratios of peat, rice hulls (RH), and anaerobic digestion residues (ADR) and two types of RH: whole (WRH) or ground RH (GRH). Substrates were physically and chemically characterized and then tested as potting substrates for Pelargonium peltatum ‘Ville de Paris’ and Rosa × hybrida ‘La Sevillana’ production. Physical characteristics worsened the increasing RH content. This problem was partly solved using GRH and adding ADR to the substrates. As for chemical characteristics, RH increased P and K, reducing cation exchange capacity, NO3-N, and Ca, thus causing a possible nutritional imbalance. ADR addition increased all nutrients, restoring the nutritional balance. Geranium and rose plants were negatively affected by an increasing rate of RH. In both species, the use of GRH improved the considered parameters, whereas ADR improved some parameters but only in geranium. It was possible to partly substitute peat with 33% RH, but GRH plus ADR is necessary for geranium production, and facultative for rose. The multiple regression method and principal component analysis appear to be useful tools to understand which substrate parameters, and to what extent, influence the growth of ornamental plants.

Geopolymers are inorganic polymers formed from the alkaline activation of amorphous alumino-silicate materials resulting in a three-dimensional polymeric network. As a class of materials, it is seen to have the potential of replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC), which for more than a hundred years has been the binder of choice for structural and building applications. Geopolymers have emerged as a sustainable option vis-à-vis OPC for three reasons: (1) their technical properties are comparable if not better; (2) they can be produced from industrial wastes; and (3) within reasonable constraints, their production requires less energy and emits significantly less CO2. In the Philippines, the use of coal ash, as the alumina- and silica- rich geopolymer precursor, is being considered as one of the options for sustainable management of coal ash generation from coal-fired power plants. However, most geopolymer mixes (and the prevalent blended OPC) use only coal fly ash. The coal bottom ash, having very few applications, remains relegated to dumpsites. Rice hull ash, from biomass-fired plants, is another silica-rich geopolymer precursor material from another significantly produced waste in the country with only minimal utilization. In this study, geopolymer samples were formed from the mixture of coal ash, using both coal fly ash (CFA) and coal bottom ash (CBA), and rice hull ash (RHA). The raw materials used for the geopolymerization process were characterized using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) for elemental and X-ray diffraction (XRD) for mineralogical composition. The raw materials’ thermal stability and loss on ignition (LOI) were determined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and reactivity via dissolution tests and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP) analysis. The mechanical, thermal and microstructural properties of the geopolymers formed were analyzed using compression tests, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Using a Scheffé-based mixture design, targeting applications with low thermal conductivity, light weight and moderate strength and allowing for a maximum of five percent by mass of rice hull ash in consideration of the waste utilization of all three components, it has been determined that an 85-10-5 by weight ratio of CFA-CBA-RHA activated with 80-20 by mass ratio of 12 M NaOH and sodium silicate (55% H2O, modulus = 3) produced geopolymers with a compressive strength of 18.5 MPa, a volumetric weight of 1660 kg/m3 and a thermal conductivity of 0.457 W/m-°C at 28-day curing when pre-cured at 80 °C for 24 h. For this study, the estimates of embodied energy and CO2 were all below 1.7 MJ/kg and 0.12 kg CO2/kg, respectively.

Obesity is one of major health challenges in the industrial world. Although rice hull has been reported to show various bioactivities, no studies have evaluated its anti-obesity effect. We hope to demonstrate the anti-obesity effect of rice hull extract (RHE) and the underlying mechanism in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice and 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Serum lipid profiles were determined by enzymatic methods. Histological analysis of liver and epididymis fat tissues was carried out with hematoxylin and eosin stain. The mRNA expression of adipogenic markers was analyzed with qRT-PCR and western blotting. Oral administration of RHE reduced body weight gain and fat accumulation in HFD-fed mice. RHE also reduced lipid accumulation by inhibiting the mRNA expression of adipogenic-related genes in HFD-fed obese mice and differentiated preadipocytes. The downregulation of adipogenesis by RHE was mediated through the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). In addition, RHE induced the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERK) in liver and epididymis adipose tissues of HFD-fed obese mice. Taken together, these findings indicate that RHE could inhibit the differentiation of adipose cell and prevent HFD-induced obesity, suggesting its potential in the prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome and related-disorders.

Rice is the third largest cultivated cereal crop in the world, making rice hulls one of the most abundant biowastes on Earth. In this manuscript, the rice husks have been subjected to alkali treatment at low temperatures aiming to produce a lignocellulosic sorbent material as well as removing their silica. This absorbent has been subsequently tested for marine diesel spill clean up. Various treatment conditions such as NaOH concentration, duration, and temperature have been investigated. The optimized cellulosic sorbents show high RMG380 marine diesel uptake due to low bulk density and their fluffy structure. It is argued that the bulk density is a critical factor in the excellent uptake capacity. As far as the authors are aware, these results (as high as 20 g of RMG380 sorbed per gram of sobent) show the highest oil sorption for rice husk derived materials reported in literature. Other advantages include higher yields and lower treatment temperatures compared to other studies. The proposed cheap and environmentally friendly method provides a simple and safe technique for the production of valuable products from lignocellulosic agricultural waste.

Purpose Coir dust was utilized to manufacture soilless mixture for ornamental plant reproduction. Coconut coir provides more air and moisture to the root zone. Growing medium with coir does not shrink from container walls upon drying.Method This study was performed in a greenhouse, Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Zabol during 2019-2020; the experiment carried out on a completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 8 months of measuring and 3 replications. Treatments had contained equal volume ratio of coco peat+ rice hull; coco peat + spent mushroom compost, cocopeat + leaf mold, coco peat + perlite. Measurable factors like plant height, stem diameter, number of new leaves, fresh and dry weight of leaves and the amount of chlorophyll were assessed for comparison of pothos growth, and finally plants had compared as stated by their general form and morphology too. Characteristics were analyzed with SPSS software and mean comparisons were represented by Duncan test in P⤠0.05.Results The findings showed that the variables such as substrate, months of measuring and their interplays had significant effects on all factors (except stem diameter). Mainly, media containing leaf-mold characteristics such as plant height, leaf number and leaf area were better than the others. The results of cocopeat + spent mushroom compost were nearly similar to cocopeat + leaf-mold, but two other media didnât show good growth after 8 months. On the other hand, growth rate of the plants improved by warming the air from autumn to summer and the most growth rate were related to July.