Tissue-Level Heterogeneity in Raw Giant Juncao Straw and Its Influence on Ammonium and Phosphate Adsorption
- 1College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
- 2Institute of Food Science and Technology, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou 350003, China
- 3Key Laboratory of Plant Fiber Functional Materials, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Fuzhou 350002, China
Abstract
Raw lignocellulosic biomass offers a low-input route for nutrient capture, yet its internal tissue heterogeneity is rarely considered when adsorption behavior is interpreted. Here, Giant Juncao (Pennisetum giganteum; also reported as Cenchrus fungigraminus) straw was separated into rind and pith to determine how native tissue architecture and cell-wall chemistry relate to ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate adsorption. The pith occupied 72.33% of stem volume but only 26.85% of dry mass and had a much lower basic density than the rind (0.072 vs. 0.570 g·cm−3). It also showed a larger N2-accessible specific surface area (2.67 vs. 1.13 m2·g−1), greater pore volume (0.006 vs. 0.001 cm3·g−1), higher pectin content (20.58 vs. 14.81 mg·g−1), and lower cellulose crystallinity (48.28% vs. 57.30%). These contrasts were accompanied by tissue-dependent NH4+ uptake: the rind and pith adsorbed 4.19 ± 1.02 and 10.36 ± 1.54 mg·g−1, respectively, whereas whole straw reached 13.80 ± 0.23 mg·g−1 under the same comparison conditions. Phosphate uptake was less tissue-sensitive (19.57–22.40 mg·g−1). More than 90% of the 24 h uptake was reached within 60 min. Nonlinear least-squares fitting, evaluated by multiple criteria (R2, SSE, RMSE, χ2, or AIC), identified the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm as the best empirical descriptions of the measured data. Spectroscopic changes were consistent with participation of oxygen-containing cell-wall groups in nutrient retention, but did not uniquely resolve molecular binding pathways. The results show that tissue-scale architecture and heterogeneous lignocellulosic chemistry jointly shape nutrient uptake in minimally processed Giant Juncao and support further evaluation of the unseparated feedstock in real wastewater and nutrient-reuse scenarios.
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BibTeX
@article{wu2026tissuelevel,
title = {{Tissue-Level Heterogeneity in Raw Giant Juncao Straw and Its Influence on Ammonium and Phosphate Adsorption}},
author = {Xiaomei Wu and Chaohui Chen and Wenting Ren and Rilong Yang and Junyue Shan and Yan Yu},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18202594},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2594},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tissue-Level Heterogeneity in Raw Giant Juncao Straw and Its Influence on Ammonium and Phosphate Adsorption
AU - Xiaomei Wu
AU - Chaohui Chen
AU - Wenting Ren
AU - Rilong Yang
AU - Junyue Shan
AU - Yan Yu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18202594
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2594
AB - Raw lignocellulosic biomass offers a low-input route for nutrient capture, yet its internal tissue heterogeneity is rarely considered when adsorption behavior is interpreted. Here, Giant Juncao (Pennisetum giganteum; also reported as Cenchrus fungigraminus) straw was separated into rind and pith to determine how native tissue architecture and cell-wall chemistry relate to ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate adsorption. The pith occupied 72.33% of stem volume but only 26.85% of dry mass and had a much lower basic density than the rind (0.072 vs. 0.570 g·cm−3). It also showed a larger N2-accessible specific surface area (2.67 vs. 1.13 m2·g−1), greater pore volume (0.006 vs. 0.001 cm3·g−1), higher pectin content (20.58 vs. 14.81 mg·g−1), and lower cellulose crystallinity (48.28% vs. 57.30%). These contrasts were accompanied by tissue-dependent NH4+ uptake: the rind and pith adsorbed 4.19 ± 1.02 and 10.36 ± 1.54 mg·g−1, respectively, whereas whole straw reached 13.80 ± 0.23 mg·g−1 under the same comparison conditions. Phosphate uptake was less tissue-sensitive (19.57–22.40 mg·g−1). More than 90% of the 24 h uptake was reached within 60 min. Nonlinear least-squares fitting, evaluated by multiple criteria (R2, SSE, RMSE, χ2, or AIC), identified the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm as the best empirical descriptions of the measured data. Spectroscopic changes were consistent with participation of oxygen-containing cell-wall groups in nutrient retention, but did not uniquely resolve molecular binding pathways. The results show that tissue-scale architecture and heterogeneous lignocellulosic chemistry jointly shape nutrient uptake in minimally processed Giant Juncao and support further evaluation of the unseparated feedstock in real wastewater and nutrient-reuse scenarios.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -