Abstract
A versatile dispersant plays a critical role in the suspension stability of pesticide suspension concentrate (SC) systems. Herein, a series of novel acrylate ester-based polycarboxylate terpolymers (PTs) were designed as dispersant for pesticide suspension concentrate and successfully synthesized in aqueous solutions from the copolymerization of α-methacrylic acid, allyl polyoxyethylene ether, and acrylate (methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and n-butyl acrylate). Terpolymers were characterized by FT-IR and 1H-NMR to confirm their structure. The surface activities of PTs were evaluated according to critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the surface tension at CMC (γCMC). PT-3 with the longest alkyl side-chain length displayed the most superior surface activity due to its lowest CMC value compared with that of the other PTs. Additionally, the dispersion properties of PTs as dispersants in a 600 g/L imidacloprid SC were evaluated. Results showed that compared to the other two PTs, PT-3 contributes to the excellent dispersion properties on imidacloprid SC. Meanwhile, the obtained SC system exhibited shear thinning behavior under high-speed shearing showing typical features of pseudo-plastic non-Newtonian fluids, which conforms to the Herschel–Buckley model. Our results revealed that the effect of the alkyl side-chain length of dispersants could be considered the primary modulator of dispersion performance of SCs.
Highlights
Pesticide aqueous suspension concentrate (SC), as an eco-friendly water-based formulation, exhibits excellent advantages, such as high suspension and bioefficacy, low cost, and safety for operators [1, 2]
Taking the case of polycarboxylate terpolymers (PTs)-3, as presented in Figure 1(a), the wide stretching vibration peak of −OH is at 3394 cm−1, the stretching vibration peaks of methyl and methylene appear at 2922 cm−1 and 2871 cm−1, and the characteristic peak of C O locates at 1735 cm−1
Mn and Mw/Mn of PTs are listed in Table 1. e Mn and Mw/Mn of PT-1, PT-2, and PT-3 are 2160, 2310, and 2287, and 2.47, 2.83, and 2.28, respectively. e results indicate that the various dispersants are randomly copolymerized by free-radical copolymerization
Summary
Pesticide aqueous SC, as an eco-friendly water-based formulation, exhibits excellent advantages, such as high suspension and bioefficacy, low cost, and safety for operators [1, 2]. The obtained PTs were selected as dispersants to prepare 600 g/L imidacloprid SC to verify its effect on the suspension stability of SC.
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