Scientists from the Faculty of Chemistry of Voronezh State University took part in the 2nd Eurasian scientific and technological conference “Linking Big Eurasian Partnership and Initiative “One Belt, One Road”: Strategies, Programmes, Projects of Agri-food Partnership” which took place in Saint Petersburg.
The conference included the Eurasian competition of agri-food strategies, programs, and projects. It was organised by Cross-sector Union of the Development of High Tech Export and Import Substitution.
Scientists of Voronezh State University presented their project “Solid Water”. The development was highly praised by experts and was awarded with the silver medal.
Our congratulations to the team of VSU scientists!
Background information:
“Solid Water” is a special sorbent that can be introduced into the soil instead of normal watering. The sorbent granules absorb water and then pass it to the plants. This will help to reduce significantly the amount of water required for irrigation. The sorbent consists of little granules. 1 kg of such granules absorbs about 500 litres of water (getting about 100 times larger). The technology is based on the properties of water. Getting into the polymer matrix, water forms connections with its walls and becomes ice, thus getting fixed within the sorbent. This is why it is called solid water. When the humidity level gets lower, the connections get broken, the structure of the liquid changes, and the water gets into the ground.
The study of the technology at VSU was initiated by rector Dmitry Endovitsky and is now conducted by Professor Vladimir Selemenev, Head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry, and professor Viktor Semenov, Head of the Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry. The new sorbents are synthesized by Professor Vyacheslav Kuznetsov from the Department of High Molecular Compounds and Colloids. Field tests of the sorbents were carried out at the test field of Voronezh State Agricultural University with Professor Alexey Lukin being in charge of the experiments.
