Overview of the advances in plant microbial fuel cell technology for sustainable energy recovery from rhizodeposition.

In plant microbial fuel cells (p-MFCs) electrochemically active microbes present around the plant root convert rhizodeposits or the organic matter into electrons, protons, and CO . This work covers the increasing trend in research with p-MFCs with their mechanism of operation. Different plant species and their selection criteria are also covered.

Optimizing the alkali treatment of cellulosic Himalayan nettle fibre for reinforcement in polymer composites.

The Himalayan nettle plant can yield strong and long bast fibre. In this study, the extracted fibres were treated with 3, 5, 7, and 10 wt% alkali solution and characterised the raw and treated fibres for chemical, morphological, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties. The objective is to find the optimized alkali concentration for fibre surface treatment to use as reinforcement in polymer composites.

Comparative Study of CO Capture by Adsorption in Sustainable Date Pits-Derived Porous Activated Carbon and Molecular Sieve.

The rising CO concentration has prompted the quest of innovative tools to reduce its effect on the environment. A comparative adsorption study using sustainable low-cost date pits-derived activated carbon and molecular sieve has been carried out for CO separation. The adsorb ents were characterized for surface area and morphological properties.

CO Capture by Low-Cost Date Pits-Based Activated Carbon and Silica Gel.

The rising levels of CO in the atmosphere are causing escalating average global temperatures. The capture of CO by adsorption has been carried out using silica gel type III and prepared activated carbon. The date pits-based activated carbon was synthesized using a tubular furnace by physical activation.

Disulfide exchange assisted self-healing epoxy/PDMS/graphene oxide nanocomposites.

Vitrimers, a class of polymeric networks that change their topology above a threshold temperature, have been investigated in recent years. In order to further extend their properties, in this research, we demonstrate disulfide exchange assisted polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)- and graphene oxide (GO)-involved epoxy vitrimers, which exhibit a reduction in glass transition temperature and storage modulus with increase in flexural strain and low-temperature self-healing. Stress relaxation and Arrhenius study were carried out for the analysis of vitrimeric behavior, where the prepared epoxy material displays self-healing at 80 °C for 5 min, whereas a low-temperature self-healing (60 °C) was observed for epoxy/PDMS/GO nanocomposites.

Sustainable power generation from sewage and energy recovery from wastewater with variable resistance using microbial fuel cell.

Wastewater from sewage sources contribute significantly to water pollution from domestic waste; one way to recover energy from these sources while at the same time, treating the water is possible using Microbial Fuel Cell. In this work, a two chambered microbial fuel cell was designed and fabricated with carbon cloth electrodes and Nafion-117 membrane, having Platinum as the catalyst. Wastewater from an organic load of 820 ± 30 mg/l reduced to around 170 mg/l, with the change in pH from 7.