University of Agriculture Faisalabad

Engineered biochar has emerged as a versatile tool for purpose-specific rhizosphere engineering, offering tailored solutions for enhancing crop production, crop protection, and environmental remediation. Yet, its effectiveness depends on optimizing application for specific functional goals rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. This review explores how engineered biochar shapes rhizosphere processes to support crop production, crop protection, and soil remediation. It examines key mechanisms including enhanced nutrient availability, stimulation of beneficial microbial communities, pathogen suppression, and soil contaminant immobilization, and how different biochar modifications, such as nutrient enrichment, antimicrobial functionalization, and surface engineering, drive these outcomes. The review highlights important trade-offs, such as the competing demands of nutrient availability for crop growth versus contaminant immobilization for remediation, and accounts for the spatial and temporal variability of biochar effects in the rhizosphere. While biochar presents clear synergistic benefits (e.g., improving soil structure, enhancing water retention, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enabling carbon sequestration), its practical application faces challenges related to competing objectives, rhizosphere complexity, and economic constraints. Emerging innovations such as nanocomposite biochars, bioprimed biochars, and biochar-microbe synergies offer new avenues for precision agriculture and sustainable land management. Finally, the review emphasizes the importance of long-term field studies to evaluate sustainability, and outlines opportunities for biochar in climate change mitigation, waste valorization, and agroecological resilience. By integrating the latest research on biochar’s mechanisms, challenges, and opportunities, this review provides a comprehensive framework for leveraging engineered biochar to address the pressing challenges of modern agriculture and environmental management.

The electrolytic division of water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) presents a sustainable solution for meeting escalating demands in renewable energy sources. Yet, this process faces formidable challenges due to its energy-intensive nature. Our study introduces efficient electrocatalysts formed from chromium sulphide nanoparticles integrated with tin oxide via a straightforward solvothermal approach, enabling water splitting in both acidic and alkaline settings. The resulting SnO2@CrS2 heterostructure exhibits notable performance by requiring lower overpotentials 142 and 99 mV for achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2 during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 M KOH, and 157 and 165 mV for OER and HER in 0.1 M HClO4, respectively. Correspondingly, Tafel slopes of 30 and 45 mVdec−1 in 1.0 M KOH and 52 and 32 mVdec−1 in 0.1 M HClO4 were observed for OER and HER respectively. These catalysts display promising efficiency at reduced overpotentials, demonstrating exceptional performance for overall water splitting. This approach of integrating an active heterostructure through interfacial tuning offers a novel pathway for developing economically viable and efficient electrocatalyst systems crucial for water splitting and H2 production. Graphical abstract of synthesized catalyst

The multifunctional polymer-based hybrid microgel combined with metal nanoparticles have effective catalytic approach to degrade the contaminants due to the external stimuli response as well as drug delivery agent. In this research work, the bimetallic hybrid microgel which is poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) integrated with Ag and Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) was prepared by the in-situ method. The AgNPs were prepared by the chemical reduction method using silver nitrate and trisodium citate while the iron oxide NPs were prepared by using the co-precipitation method. Then the prepared iron oxide and silver NPs were integrated in the prepared poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) hybrid microgel by using in-situ method. The prepared microgels were characterized by using UV-Visible spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Zeta Potential analysis and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The cytotoxicity assay of the prepared microgel was analyzed against human colon cancer cells (SW480) and normal cell line NIH/3T3. The molecular docking was also performed for the cytotoxicity using Topoisomerase IIβ (4g0u) and EGFR TKD (1m17) proteins. The anticancer drug cisplatin was loaded on the microgel and its controlled release was analyzed in buffer solution of pH 7.4 at 32 °C and 37 °C by using UV-Visible spectrophotometer and Raman spectroscopy. The chemometric tool, Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) tool was employed on Raman spectral data for the quantitative analysis of the released drug at 37 °C temperature. The Flory-Huggins analysis (χ = 0.041–0.134) confirmed high thermodynamic compatibility of PNIPAM with Ag and Fe2O3 nanofillers, ensuring structural stability and sustained LCST response. The UV-Visible spectrophotometer was used to analyze its catalytic activity and comparison efficiencies between bimetallic and single-metal microgels by the degradation of the methylene blue (MB) dye and how the prepared catalyst affected the apparent rate constant (kapp) of MB dye. The prepared microgels integrated NPs showed remarkable multifunctional applications as controlled cisplatin release and degraded the methylene blue dye effectively.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, disrupts gut microbial homeostasis, compromises intestinal barrier integrity, and contributes to inflammation-associated bone loss. Although the gut-bone axis is increasingly recognized as a critical regulator of skeletal health, effective nutritional strategies targeting this pathway remain insufficiently explored. This study investigated the protective effects of Zn glycine, a highly bioavailable organic zinc chelates, against LPS-induced inflammatory bone loss in meat geese. Dietary supplementation with Zn glycine at 80 mg/kg significantly alleviated LPS-induced growth impairment, intestinal barrier dysfunction. Zn glycine markedly reduced LPS accumulation in both intestinal and bone tissues (p < 0.01) and enhanced tight junction integrity by upregulating zonula occludens-1 and claudin-1, thereby limiting systemic LPS translocation. These effects were accompanied by reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-18, and TNF-α), elevated anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, and increased microbial production of short-chain fatty acids, collectively supporting gut and bone health. Additionally, Zn glycine mitigated LPS-induced oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities and total antioxidant capacity while reducing oxidative damage markers. Importantly, Zn glycine preserved bone microarchitecture, increased (p < 0.01) bone mineral density (BMD), suppressed osteoclastic genes such as tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) and nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATC1), and promoted osteoblast activity through upregulation of runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin (OCN), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Mechanistically, these protective effects were mediated through inhibition of the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Overall, Zn glycine emerges as a promising nutritional strategy for preventing inflammation-driven bone loss via modulation of the gut-bone axis.

Increasing soil salinization is a major global threat to agricultural productivity. Nitrogen (N) fertilization can mitigate salt stress; however, it often causes environmental pollution and leads to low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and profitability. Coated urea formulations improve N uptake and crop performance in saline conditions. A two-year field study in natural saline conditions evaluated the coated urea types: simple urea (no coating) (SU), polymer-coated urea (PCU), polymer-zinc-coated urea (PZCU), and polymer-sulfur-coated urea (PSCU). These were tested at five N application rates (0