ENHANCING SUSTAINABLE AND SMART AGRICULTURE: NANOBUBBLE-ENRICHED HYDROGELS FOR IMPROVED WATER AND NUTRIENT DELIVERY TO FOSTER PLANT GROWTH

The long-term goal of this project is to foster environmentally sustainable irrigation technologies or processes for enhancing specific plant growth and crop yield per water usage. The key hypotheses are: (1) Nanobubbles (NBs) could enter the hydrogel's polymer matrix and elicit higher colloidal stability and longer residence time than in water after applied to the soil, which will enable long-lasting impacts on soil improvement (e.g., moisturization and nutrient delivery); (2) NBs and other nutrients could also be slowly released from hydrogel and sustain greater bioavailability for plant uptake; (3) NBs may alter the soil microbial communities (especially the rhizosphere soil) that are responsible for plant growth; (4) NBs may improve nutrient content in plant biomass or products; (5) Applying this mixture of NBs/hydrogel could better enhance plant growth in different soils compared to separate applications of only NB water or hydrogel during irrigation. The interaction mechanisms (e.g., adsorption and desorption) between NBs and hydrogel in water and the effects of NBs on nutrient release from hydrogel will be examined.