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Anodes derived from SnO 2 offer a greater specific capacity comparative to graphitic carbon in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs); hence, it is imperative to find a simple but effective approach for the fabrication of SnO 2 . The intelligent surfacing of transition metal oxides is one of the favorite strategies to dramatically boost cycling efficiency, and currently most work is primarily aimed at coating and/or compositing with carbon-based materials. Such coating materials, however, face major challenges, including tedious processing and low capacity. This study successfully reports a new and simple WO 3 coating to produce a core-shell structure on the surface of SnO 2 . The empty space permitted natural expansion for the SnO 2 nanostructures, retaining a higher specific capacity for over 100 cycles that did not appear in the pristine SnO 2 without WO 3 shell. Using WO 3 -protected SnO 2 nanoparticles as anode, a coin half-cell battery was designed with Li-foil as counter-electrode. Furthermore, the anode was paired with commercial LiFePO 4 as cathode for a coin-type full cell and tested for lithium storage performance. The WO 3 shell proved to be an effective and strong enhancer for both current rate and specific capacity of SnO 2 nanoarchitectures; additionally, an enhancement of cyclic stability was achieved. The findings demonstrate that the WO 3 can be used for the improvement of cyclic characteristics of other metal oxide materials as a new coating material., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Recently, due to the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, the global environment has changed dramatically. As a result, climate change, global warming, and environmental degradation-like issues have been raised. Presumably, human beings, as well as the agricultural ecosystem, become most vulnerable to these issues. In this context, the study focuses on the nexus between Indian's agricultural ecosystem and carbon dioxide emission. For the purpose of this study, annual time series data over the time span from 1990 to 2014 was used. The modern techniques, for instance, Johansen, ARDL, and Granger causality, were employed. The Johansen test and ARDL model suggest that carbon dioxide emissions and agricultural ecosystems are co-integrated. In the short run, the ARDL model suggests that a 1% increase in biomass-burned crop residues, total pesticides, and stock of livestock would increase carbon dioxide emissions by 0.26, 0.3, and 6.58% respectively. The residual diagnostics tests suggest that the ARDL model is stable, reliable, and credible in the present form. The results of the granger causality show that a unidirectional causality was found between carbon dioxide and total heads of livestock, all animal manure applied to the soil, agricultural technology, and total pesticide used in the agricultural sector. In contrast, bidirectional causality was found between the production of biomass-burned crop residues and carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, it is suggested that the government should take preemptive action to reduce the risk of environmental pollution and degradation through synchronized strategies particularly by reducing the amount of biomass-burned crop residues and usage of total pesticides in the country.

Livestock manure is a valuable source of nutrients for plants. However, poor handling practices during storage resulted in nutrient losses from the manure and decrement in its nitrogen (N) fertilizer value. We explored the influence of divergent storage methods on manure chemical composition, carbon (C) and N losses to the environment as well as fertilizer value of storage products after their application to the wheat. Fresh buffalo manure (FM) was subjected to different storage operations for a period of ∼6 months, (i) fermentation by covering with a plastic sheet (CM) (ii) placed under the roof (RM) (iii) heap was unturned (SM) to remain stacked at an open space and (iv) manure heap turned monthly (TM) to make compost. During storage, 8, 24, 45 and 46% of the initial N total was lost from CM, RM, SM, and TM, respectively. The respective C losses from these treatments were 16, 34, 47 and 44% of the initial C content. After stored manures application to the wheat crop, mineral N in the soil remained 27% higher in CM (14.1 vs. 11.1 kg ha -1 ) and 3% (10.8 vs. 11.1 kg ha -1 ) lower in SM compared to FM treatment. In contrast, microbial biomass C and N was 35 (509 vs.782 mg C kg -1 soil) and 25% (278 vs.370 mg N kg -1 soil) lower in CM than FM treatment, respectively indicating lower N immobilization of CM in the soil. These findings could result in the highest grain yield (5166 kg ha -1 ) and N uptake (117 kg ha -1 ) in CM and the lowest in SM treatments (3105 and 61 kg ha -1 , respectively). Similarly, wheat crop recovered 44, 15 and 13% N from CM, TM and SM, respectively. Hence, management operations play a critical role in conserving N during storage phase and after stored manure application to the field. Among the studied operations, storing animal manure under an impermeable plastic sheet is a much better and cheaper option for decreasing N losses during storage and improving wheat yield when incorporated into the soil. Therefore, by adopting this manure storage technique, farmers can improve the agro-environmental value of animal manure in Pakistan., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Chemical interesterification of rubber seed oil has been investigated for four different designed orifice devices in a pilot scale hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) system. Upstream pressure within 1-3.5bar induced cavities to intensify the process. An optimal orifice plate geometry was considered as plate with 1mm dia hole having 21 holes at 3bar inlet pressure. The optimisation results of interesterification were revealed by response surface methodology; methyl acetate to oil molar ratio of 14:1, catalyst amount of 0.75wt.% and reaction time of 20min at 50°C. HC is compared to mechanical stirring (MS) at optimised values. The reaction rate constant and the frequency factor of HC were 3.4-fold shorter and 3.2-fold higher than MS. The interesterified product was characterised by following EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 international standards., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)