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Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study
The need for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic mulches in agriculture has led to the development of various types of biodegradable mulches made from natural fibres and biopolymers to reduce environmental pollution and mitigate soil pollution caused by conventional plastic mulch usage....
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10674407/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38006170 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15224447 |
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author | Marasović, Paula Kopitar, Dragana Brunšek, Ružica Schwarz, Ivana |
author_facet | Marasović, Paula Kopitar, Dragana Brunšek, Ružica Schwarz, Ivana |
author_sort | Marasović, Paula |
collection | PubMed |
description | The need for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic mulches in agriculture has led to the development of various types of biodegradable mulches made from natural fibres and biopolymers to reduce environmental pollution and mitigate soil pollution caused by conventional plastic mulch usage. Degradation, impact on soil temperature and humidity, and weed suppression properties of needle-punched nonwoven mulches of different mass per unit area, made of jute, hemp, viscose, and PLA biopolymer, are investigated. Their biodegradation is determined by changes in the mulch properties (mass per unit area, thickness, air permeability, tensile properties, microscopic images, and FTIR analyses) during 300 days of exposure to the environmental conditions in the period from May 2022 to February 2023. The change in mass per unit area, thickness, air permeability, and tensile properties of nonwoven mulches did not show a tendency to degrade during exposure to environmental conditions. The microscopic and FTIR analysis showed the degradation of the fibres from the mulches during the exposure time to a certain extent. The environmental conditions influence the change in the dimensions of the mulches (shrinkage and expansion)—which impact periodically tested mass results per unit area—as well as their thickness and air permeability. The nonwoven mulches provide higher temperatures compared to bare soil, though not as high as those observed beneath traditional agricultural foil. When comparing the humidity in bare soil and soil covered by mulches during the plant growth period (June to October), it was found that soil humidity was higher beneath all mulches. The nonwoven mulches provide superior soil moisture retention compared to conventionally used agrofoil. Almost all nonwoven mulches effectively suppressed weed growth, except hemp mulches. The newly produced mulches have the potential to replace traditional agrofoil, offering improved conditions for plant growth, effective weed control, and faster degradation without causing harm to the environment. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10674407 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106744072023-11-17 Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study Marasović, Paula Kopitar, Dragana Brunšek, Ružica Schwarz, Ivana Polymers (Basel) Article The need for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic mulches in agriculture has led to the development of various types of biodegradable mulches made from natural fibres and biopolymers to reduce environmental pollution and mitigate soil pollution caused by conventional plastic mulch usage. Degradation, impact on soil temperature and humidity, and weed suppression properties of needle-punched nonwoven mulches of different mass per unit area, made of jute, hemp, viscose, and PLA biopolymer, are investigated. Their biodegradation is determined by changes in the mulch properties (mass per unit area, thickness, air permeability, tensile properties, microscopic images, and FTIR analyses) during 300 days of exposure to the environmental conditions in the period from May 2022 to February 2023. The change in mass per unit area, thickness, air permeability, and tensile properties of nonwoven mulches did not show a tendency to degrade during exposure to environmental conditions. The microscopic and FTIR analysis showed the degradation of the fibres from the mulches during the exposure time to a certain extent. The environmental conditions influence the change in the dimensions of the mulches (shrinkage and expansion)—which impact periodically tested mass results per unit area—as well as their thickness and air permeability. The nonwoven mulches provide higher temperatures compared to bare soil, though not as high as those observed beneath traditional agricultural foil. When comparing the humidity in bare soil and soil covered by mulches during the plant growth period (June to October), it was found that soil humidity was higher beneath all mulches. The nonwoven mulches provide superior soil moisture retention compared to conventionally used agrofoil. Almost all nonwoven mulches effectively suppressed weed growth, except hemp mulches. The newly produced mulches have the potential to replace traditional agrofoil, offering improved conditions for plant growth, effective weed control, and faster degradation without causing harm to the environment. MDPI 2023-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10674407/ /pubmed/38006170 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15224447 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Marasović, Paula Kopitar, Dragana Brunšek, Ružica Schwarz, Ivana Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title | Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title_full | Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title_fullStr | Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title_short | Performance and Degradation of Nonwoven Mulches Made of Natural Fibres and PLA Polymer—Open Field Study |
title_sort | performance and degradation of nonwoven mulches made of natural fibres and pla polymer—open field study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10674407/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38006170 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15224447 |
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