Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience: Graduate and undergraduate students through formal classroom instruction (BSE 460-Biorefining at UW-Madison). Graduate students participated in the research activities of this project. The general public, farmers, mulch film producers, etc. through the website, newsletter, presentations, etc. Peer researchers through seminars and conference presentations (e.g., AIChE meeting, International Society of Industrial Ecology conference). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?UW-Madison: One postdoc and two graduate students were involved in this project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Through this project, the postdoc and students studied the knowledge of biomass, and molten salt hydrate, and learned the skills and techniques for analysis and characterization of biomass. They were also trained in literature research, experiment design, data analysis, technical communication, and manuscript preparation for publication. The postdoc and students took the training workshops to learn how to use the instruments/equipment for material characterization, including universal test machine, TGA, contact angle, AFM, SEM, XRD, rheometer, etc. The postdoc and one student attended and presented at the 2023 AIChE meeting. WSU:One graduate student is involved in the project at Washington State University. The student has learned about soil-biodegradable mulch feedstocks and the unique attributes of LCF, experimental design and fundamentals of data analysis, technical communication to academic and non-academic audiences, and manuscript preparation. UMD:One graduate student is involved in the project at the University of Maryland, College Park. The student has learned about the mechanical testing of lignocellulosic films and how to extract key mechanical properties of the films from such testing. The student is also trained in literature study, technical communication, and technical writing. Yale:The plastic life cycle assessment literature collected was included in Yao's life cycle assessment class with 33 students, most of whom were professional master students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The ideas, results, and findings of the project were shared with students in the course "Biorefining: Energy and Products from Renewable Resources" offered annually by PI (Dr. Pan). This made more students aware of the technology developed in this project and its impacts on the area. Part of the outcomes and findings from this project were presented at the 2023 AIChE Annual Meeting to share with peers. Information about LCF was shared in a newsletter article titled, "What is lignocellulose film?", published inSustainable Mulch Management. The article has a readership of 259 individuals worldwide involved in soil-biodegradable mulch research, outreach, and manufacturing. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Conduct field tests of the LCFs to evaluate their performance as mulch films in comparison with commercial mulch films. Carefully characterize the LCFs fabricated from cellulose, bleached wood pulp, unbleached wood pulp, and wood powder in terms of morphological, mechanical, and chemical properties. Publish the project webpage and update the webpage quarterly to include emerging project information. Distribute emerging project information via mulch-specific social media channels, specifically Mulch_Matters Instagram and podcast accounts. Share information via webinars with an emphasis on comparisons between PE mulch and LCF. Publish information on the project data-sharing platform. Author another newsletter article in the Sustainable Mulch Management newsletter as well as leverage emerging project information and publish in trade journals and updated PowerPoint slides available on the project webpage. Disseminate information at academic and trade conferences. Begin impact assessment after webinar and conference presentations via Qualtrics surveys to assess barriers and bridges to using LCF. Continue training postdoc and graduate students through this project. Attend conferences to present and share the findings from this project. Publish peer-reviewed journal articles based on the results and findings from this project. File a patent for the method developed to fabricate films from cellulose and lignocellulose materials. Collect data onenergy consumption and mass input and output. Those data will be used for conducting techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project is to produce fully soil-biodegradable lignocellulosic films (LCFs) from wood chips.The LCFs are expected to have satisfactory mulching performance to replace petroleum-derived plastic mulches used in horticultural crop production. The proposed extension activities will effectively deliver the research findings and technologies on soil-biodegradable mulches (BDMs) to stakeholders and the public. During this reporting period, the following activities/experiments were conducted/completed. Cellulose (wood powder) dissolution in a concentrated salt (LiBr or CaBr2) is the most critical operation to fabricate LCFs as mulch film through the proposed approach of dissolution and regeneration. Therefore, we carefully studied the dissolution process of cellulose in calcium bromide solution and lithium bromide solution, respectively. It was found that cellulose dissolution is dependent on salt concentration, temperature, pH, cellulose loading, cellulose structure, and other factors. Optimal conditions have been determined for cellulose dissolution in LiBr and CaBr2 solutions. It was also demonstrated that LCFs can be prepared from cellulose, wood pulp, and wood powder via dissolution and regeneration in the salt solutions. These results/findings are included in two manuscripts for publication. We have established a protocol to fabricate LCFs from different feedstock (pure cellulose, bleached and unbleached wood pulps, and wood chips), including unit operations of feedstock pretreatment, cellulose dissolution and regeneration, film formation, drying, hot press, and surface treatment.We have determined optimal conditions for the operations to fabricate LCFs. We have purchased the required special equipment (e.g., ball mill, film former, film dryer, plat hot-press, and roller hot-press) for fabricating large-size LCFs. We are preparing LCF samples for further characterization and field tests. We have started testing the mechanical properties of the lignocellulosic films, such as stiffness, tensile strength, and fracture toughness. We have also started collecting and reviewing the literature on the mechanics of lignocellulosic films. We developed an experiment that will evaluate initial formulations of lignocellulose film in a greenhouse and then evaluate their rate of in-soil biodegradation compared to plastic biodegradable mulch. 1 postdoc and 4 graduate students were involved in this project in related research and outreach activities. Educational content that introduces and defines LCF for stakeholder groups was created and includes PowerPoint slides and a newsletter article. The PowerPoint slide will be narrated and made into a video in 2024. All developed content will go onto our project-specific webpage on co-PIs DeVetter's "Mulch Technologies" website (https://smallfruits.wsu.edu/plastic-mulches/), which will be published in Jan 2024. The newsletter article titled, "What is lignocellulose film?" was published in the widely read "Sustainable Mulch Management" newsletter and has a readership of 259 individuals.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Jiansong Chen, Zhiqiang Pang, Haishun Du, and Xuejun Pan. Cellulose dissolution and regeneration in calcium bromide solution. 2023 AIChE Annual meeting, Nov. 510, Orlando, FL.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Aidan Williams. 2023. What is lignocellulosic film? Sustainable Mulch Management Newsletter. Vol 2. Available online: https://smallfruits.wsu.edu/plastic-mulches/newsletter/.
|