Research Projects

The proposal aims to design sustainable and structurally stable agro-augmenting engineered nano/micro-porous fibrous mats to facilitate controlled and prolonged agro-chemical release for plant growth. It focuses on the fabrication of aliphatic polyester, a naturally resourced biopolymer and lignin, as a C-rich bio-filler based hybrid electrospun composite mats with an intrinsic loading of micronutrients for their controlled release. The proposal also aims to analyze the agro-chemical release mediated in-situ root growth kinetics to precisely evaluate the agro-chemical release mediated plant growth mechanism. The objectives of the proposal include optimizing nanofibrous mats with fertilizers and carbon-rich nutrient encapsulation in the architectural framework of assembled fibers deposited on a substrate, evaluating and characterization of physico-mechanical attributes and structural stability in soil-alkalinity, water-alone, and soil-water mix slurry mediums, assessing mechanical and structural responses of the composite mats in uni-axial tension mode, tear-mode, and dynamic mechanical deformation mode, assessing release kinetics assessment and the role of layer-by-layer assembling of spun mats and 3D-printed substrates for agro-augmenting prospects, and analyzing in-situ plant root/shoot growth and degradation kinetics as a function of the nutrient concentration of biodegradable mats.