Abstract

BELMONTE TORRES, Ángel Iván; AGUILAR DUQUE, Julián Israel  and  AMAYA PARRA, Guillermo. Cellulose hydrogel substrate modified with macroporosity by computed microtomography and 3D printing for soil-less cultivation. Rev. cienc. tecnol. [online]. 2023, vol.6, n.3, e256.  Epub June 25, 2024. ISSN 2594-1925.  https://doi.org/10.37636/recit.v6n3e256.

Soilless cultivation is an agricultural technique that allows higher crop yields, showing several advantages over traditional agriculture, this technique requires improvements in the substrates used to obtain higher production and quality. Cellulose-derived hydrogels promise to be a good alternative as substrate due to their hydrophilic properties; however, they lack good aeration. It is proposed to use cellulose as raw material for the synthesis of cellulose hydrogels assisted by computerized microtomography to generate a model with a porosity of 15-30% and reproduce it by 3D printing by digital light processing (DLP). The aim is to obtain a cellulose hydrogel substrate with better properties than commercial substrates, and to implement 3D printing in agriculture.

Keywords : Cellulose hydrogel; Substrate; 3D printing; Soilless culture; Computed microtomography.