Development Of Photo-Triggered Controlled Release Systems As Pesticide Nanoformulations

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3205840

Conventional pesticide formulations frequently cause severe environmental impact, with only less than 1 % of applied pesticides successfully reaching their intended target and the majority being lost in the surrounding ecosystem. Controlled release systems have been a significant advance in agriculture as a solution to this problem. This study focuses on the development of a sunlight-triggered controlled release system and its utilization for the efficient delivery of natural essential oils as a model natural pesticide and abamectin as a model chemical pesticide. The design includes photothermal nanocarriers made of polydopamine functionalized halloysite nanotubes (HNT-PDAs) with light-to-heat conversion properties, and their functionalization with lauric acid (LA), which acts as a stopper that facilitates the release of the loaded cargo only upon sunlight-triggered heating of the photothermal nanocarriers. The prepared release system was demonstrated to release essential oils and abamectin for at least 5 days when exposed to sunlight for 6 h every day. Aqueous dispersions of the LA/abm@HNT-PDA nanohybrids were studied as sprayable pesticide nanoformulations and were shown to present strong suspensibility, foliar retention, rainwater wash resistance, and significant pesticide activity on Myzus persicae aphids. The sunlight-triggered pesticide delivery systems developed in this study present an innovative, environmentally friendly design approach that provides an effective alternative for conventional pesticides