Abstract
Agricultural plastic mulch sheets are generally composed of petroleum-derived polyethylene (PE). However, biodegradable plastics and paper materials have attracted significant attention because of concerns regarding plastic pollution and the need for decarbonization. Miscanthus × giganteus (M×G) is a promising nonwoody biomass material with high yield potential and sustainability. This study investigated the feasibility of producing paper mulch from M×G using alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) pulping, a method that does not require heating or pressurization, and evaluated the fundamental properties of the resulting sheets as alternatives to plastic. Short-term AHP pulping and laboratory-scale soda pulping were applied to M×G, and specimen sheets were prepared from both pulps. A light-yellow pulp was obtained after short-term AHP pulping for 10–15 min, with a yield of approximately 59 %. Both types of pulp produced sheets with sufficient tensile and burst strengths for use as paper mulch. The specific tensile strength was greater for AHP M×G paper (dry basis weight 60 g/m 2 ; 42.8 N·m/g) soda pulp M×G paper (40.7 N·m/g). Both specimens exhibited high air permeability, suggesting a potential heat-shielding effect. The paper mulch sheets promoted better lettuce plant growth than conventional PE mulch and the control without mulch. The dry weight of lettuce was 5.3 and 1.7 times higher when grown on AHP M×G mulch sheets than on PE mulch sheets or without mulch, respectively. This study demonstrated the potential of AHP M×G sheets as an effective, sustainable alternative to conventional PE agricultural mulch.
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Claims 2
Claim · model-written summary
Lettuce dry weight on AHP M×G mulch was 5.3 times that on PE mulch.
- Taxon
- lettuce
Lactuca sativae0 - Treatment
- AHP M×G mulch sheetse0
- Outcome
- dry weight of lettucee0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 5.3e0
- Comparator
- PE mulch sheetse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The dry weight of lettuce was 5.3 and 1.7 times higher when grown on AHP M×G mulch sheets than on PE mulch sheets or without mulch, respectively.”
Claim · model-written summary
Lettuce dry weight on AHP M×G mulch was 1.7 times that without mulch.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae0
- Treatment
- AHP M×G mulch sheetse0
- Outcome
- dry weight of lettucee0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 1.7e0
- Comparator
- without mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The dry weight of lettuce was 5.3 and 1.7 times higher when grown on AHP M×G mulch sheets than on PE mulch sheets or without mulch, respectively.”
The same questions in other papers
hydrogen peroxide · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
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- negative
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mulching · growth · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
12 papers in the same direction as this paper · 8 in the opposite direction
- negative
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See all 21 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.