Tamalanrea-Makassar. The Faculty of Forestry, Hasanuddin University (Unhas), through the Partnership, Research and Innovation sector, held a public lecture presenting speakers from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russian Federation. The activity took place starting at 10.00 WITA in the Senate Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Forestry, Unhas Tamalanrea Campus, Makassar, Friday (23/8/2024).
Starting the activities of the Deputy Dean for Partnership, Research and Innovation, Faculty of Forestry, Unhas, Syahidah, S.Hut., M.Si., Ph.D. In his speech, he expressed his thanks to the resource persons who had attended this activity to give a public lecture on biocomposite hydrogels for applications in the forestry and agricultural fields.
“Thank you for the presence of the resource persons in this activity. I hope that the material presented can provide benefits for students, in this case the importance of biocomposite hydrogels for application in the forestry and agricultural fields,” explained Syahidah.
Present as a resource person were Prof. Dr. Widya Fatriasari, S.Hut., M.M. (Researcher at the BRIN Center for Biomass and Bioproducts) and Antonio Di Martino, Ph.D. (Lecturer at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russian Federation).
Antonio Di Martino presented material with the theme “Biocomposite Hydrogels for Application in Agriculture and Forestry”. Biocomposites are materials consisting of two different constituent materials which are combined to produce new materials with better performance. Biocomposite hydrogel is a polymer gel composed of chains of polymer compounds connected by crosslinking bonds.
Some of the characteristics of an ideal hydrogel material are, high water absorption capacity, desired level of absorption capacity according to plant needs, lowest soluble content, high durability and stability, high performance over a range of temperatures, colorless, odorless and non-toxic, and improved soil quality.
The main applications of biocomposite hydrogels in agriculture and forestry are as seed additives, carriers, coatings, soil remediation, water management and seeding and planting.
“The main application of biocomposite hydrogel in agriculture and forestry as a seed additive is to support seed germination, then the main application as a carrier is as a carrier for fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and increasing efficiency,” explained Antonio.
This activity was attended by 70 students, went smoothly until 12.00 WITA and ended with a joint discussion session.
