The scarcity of water resources is expanding worldwide due to the continuous growth of the imbalance between the availability and utilization of freshwater. This motivates researchers to find new water-saving methodologies and water management tools responding to future demands. The general objective of this project consists of the development of novel and low-cost material based on alginate and biochar functionalized with metal oxides and its application for the treatment of salty and contaminated water, to support the implementation of strategies for mitigation of hydro-climatic extreme events, especially droughts in the catchment of different sources of irrigation water. Also, the material will be investigated for water saving and soil fertilization.
The influence of this new material on bean crops will be studied, bean being widely used food due to their high protein content and vitamins.
The current project is pertinent to the work program topic, contributing to the management of water resources by adaptation and mitigation to hydroclimatic extreme events and management tools by preparation of new materials that will be used for water decontamination thus increasing the water reserve that can be used for irrigation.
Also, these superabsorbent materials can be used to store and gradually release water during droughts. The novelty of the project: i) the material prepared; ii) 3 simultaneous applications of the same material: pollutants removal, swelling, and drought stress mitigation under current and predicted climate change scenarios for crop cultivation as model plant bean crop and soil properties; iii) the application of the material prepared for elimination of ARGs and ARBs.