TiO₂ amendment accelerates low-temperature composting start-up

With the development of intensive livestock farming, the treatment of livestock and poultry manure faces challenges such as long processing cycles and disposal that fails to meet regulatory discharge or safety standards. This study found that nano-titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and the psychrophilic consortium (LY3) exert a synergistic promoting effect on the start-up of low-temperature composting. LY3 can significantly accelerate composting start-up and increase the lipid degradation rate from 0.6 % to 13 %, while TiO₂ assists LY3 in further raising this rate to 15 %. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing results show that TiO₂ can regulate microbial community diversity and promote the synergy of functional microbial groups. Under dark conditions, TiO₂ may degrade organic fractions through specific mechanisms within microbial metabolic processes. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) indicates that the addition of TiO₂ shifts the composting process from relying solely on carbohydrate decomposition to the synergistic decomposition of organic fractions, which significantly shortens the composting cycle and enhances the degradation efficiency of organic fractions. This study provides theoretical and technological support for the efficient utilization of livestock and poultry manure waste resources.