Contrasting impacts of mixed nonionic surfactant micelles on plant growth in the delivery of fungicide and herbicide

Autor: Xuzhi Hu, Haoning Gong, Huayang Liu, Xi Wang, Weimiao Wang, Mingrui Liao, Zongyi Li, Kun Ma, Peixun Li, Sarah Rogers, Ralf Schweins, Xuqing Liu, Faheem Padia, Gordon Bell, Jian R. Lu
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 618:78-87
ISSN: 0021-9797
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.03.002
Popis: Nonionic alkyl ethoxylate surfactants are widely used in agrochemicals to facilitate the permeation of systemic herbicides and fungicides across the plant waxy film. Industrial grade surfactants are often highly mixed and how the mixing affects their interactions with pesticides and wax films remains largely unexplored. A better understanding could enable design of mixed nonionic surfactants for herbicides and fungicides to maximize their efficiency and reduce wastage whilst controlling their impact on plant wax films.In this study, nonionic surfactants with general structure n-oxyethylene glycol monododecyl ether (CPesticide solubilization made surfactant micelles effectively more hydrophobic but subsequent wax dissolution caused pesticide release and the restoration of the micellar amphiphilicity. Nonionic surfactants with lower HLBs form larger nanoaggregates, show enhanced wettability, and have better ability to solubilize and permeate pesticides across the wax film, but may cause significant damage to plant growth. These observations help explain why herbicides applied on weeds would benefit from surfactants with lower HLB values while fungicides require surfactants with HLBs to balance between delivery efficiency and potential phytotoxicity risks.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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