Synthesis of nanoporous materials to dispense pheromone for trapping agricultural pests

Abstract

In this study, to develop an effective pheromone dispenser, zeolite A was modified with cetyltrimethylammonium ion as a cationic surfactant. Its capacity for aggregation of the pheromone components was confirmed by total organic carbon analysis before and after field testing. Furthermore, weekly examinations of soybean fields (Daewonkong variety) and plum orchards were undertaken from April to August in 2014 to determine the number of Riptortus pedestris trapped by the aggregation pheromone dispersed from the pheromone loaded surfactant-modified zeolite A (SMZ-A) in a netted cylindrical trap. The powder-type SMZ-A exhibited superior performance when compared to other dispensers in a comparative study of attractiveness using cylinder- and powder-type surfactant-modified zeolite A (CSMZ-A and PSMZ-A), microporous titanosilicate ETS-10, and a commercial product (CP). The performance followed the trend PSMZ-A > > CSMZ-A > ETS-10 > CP, suggesting that the SMZ-A material has potential as a slow-releasing pheromone dispenser.