Abstract
The development of controlled delivery system formulations has received increasing interest in the agriculture area. Tebuthiuron (TBH) is the most commonly used herbicide for weed control in sugar cane and cotton crops. The TBH and some of its metabolites are detected in surface water by leaching process, evidencing contamination and the need for an efficient process to decrease pesticide residues. The development of a controlled system release appears as a good solution. The present investigation aimed to study the development and evaluation of alginate microparticles as a delivery system for the TBH. The calcium alginate microparticles were prepared from the crosslinking of sodium alginate by Ca++ containing varied amounts of TBH supplied in CaCl2 aqueous solution. The particle size and morphological analysis of microparticles were determined by optical microscopy (OM) and by field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). The encapsulation efficiency and release of TBH studies was accessed by UV-vis spectroscopy. The results show that the polymeric microparticles containing TBH can be obtained successfully through a simple method and is suitable as a controlled release carrier system for herbicides and can be effective for controlling weeds.
Highlights
Agrochemicals have become the product class most widely encountered in surface and subterranean hydrological systems worldwide, due to their extensive use in agriculture and in urban areas[1]
It is important to mention that the 1% (m/v) concentration of sodium alginate did not lead to obtaining of microspheres
As can be seen by optical microscopy the best results were obtained at 3% alginate using 0.1 mol.L-1 CaCl2 concentration, since, there was no tail formation
Summary
Agrochemicals have become the product class most widely encountered in surface and subterranean hydrological systems worldwide, due to their extensive use in agriculture and in urban areas[1]. There is a great concern for environmental preservation, where the contamination of water is one of the major problems of the degradation of the environment by human activity in the world[2]. Several technologies have been proposed in order to minimize the spread of agrochemicals in the environment, among them are nanoparticulate[3] and microparticulate[4] systems designed to provide controlled release such class of compounds. This herbicide is selective recommended for the weed control
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