Abstract
Emamectin benzoate (EB), a widely used pesticide, is prone to decomposition by ultraviolet light and suffers from the corresponding loss of efficacy. The timed release of EB based on microspheres is one of the effective methods to solve this issue. As a non-toxic cellulose ester, cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) is regarded as one of the best wall-forming materials for microcapsules with a good controlled release performance. Herein, two methods—mechanical activation (MA) technology and a conventional liquid phase (LP) method—were employed to synthesize different CABs, namely CAB-MA and CAB-LP, respectively. The molecular structure, rheological property, and thermal stability of these CABs were investigated. The two CABs were used to prepare microspheres for the loading and release of EB via an o/w (oil-in-water) solvent evaporation method. Moreover, the performances such as drug loading, drug entrapment, and anti-photolysis of the drug for these microspheres were studied. The results showed that both CABs were available as wall materials for loading and releasing EB. Compared with CAB-LP, CAB-MA presented a lower molecular weight and a narrower molecular weight distribution. Moreover, the MA method endowed the CAB with more ester substituent groups and less crystalline structure in comparison to the LP method, which had benefits including pelletizing and drug loading.
Highlights
Due to advantages such as high efficiency, low toxicity, low residue, and low pollution, emamectin benzoate (EB) has been widely used as a biopesticide through the forms of emulsion, microemulsion, suspension, and granules dispersed in water [1]
For the acetyl carbonyl triplet, the peaks at 169.3 ppm, 169.8 ppm, and 170.3 ppm are attributed to the carbonyl signal of the acetate group in the two, three, and six positions of the anhydroglucose unit unit (AGU)
During the process of the mechanical activation (MA) method, all of the hydroxyl groups in the cellulose were activated by ball milling to react with the esterifying agents [18]
Summary
Due to advantages such as high efficiency, low toxicity, low residue, and low pollution, emamectin benzoate (EB) has been widely used as a biopesticide through the forms of emulsion, microemulsion, suspension, and granules dispersed in water [1]. The development of the timed release of EB by embedding it into microcapsules or microspheres composed of polymers is one of the promising methods to solve this issue. At the initial stage of the utilization, drugs distributed on the surface of microspheres are directly diffused into the environment, resulting in a fast release at the beginning stage. The active ingredient that is incorporated into the carrier is released slowly via the inner channels or the decomposition of the microsphere component [3].
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