Fabrication of a controllable nanopesticide system with magnetic collectability

•A pH-responsively controlled-release nanopesticide (PRCRP) was constructed.•The PRCRP exhibited significantly controlled-release performance.•The PRCRP displayed outstanding control efficacy on weed and pest.•The PRCRP could be collected conveniently from both water and soil after release.

In this work, we constructed a multifunctional nanopesticide system, a pH-responsively controlled-release pesticide (PRCRP) with magnetic collectability performance, to effectively improve the pesticide utilization efficiency (UE). Herein, herbicide (glyphosate) and pesticide (cypermethrin) were respectively loaded in the micro-nano pores of diatomite/Fe3O4, a magnetic nanocarrier, which was fabricated through in-situ deposition method. Afterwards, the resulting pesticide/diatomite/Fe3O4 was coated by chitosan which can be dissolved in acid condition so as to control the release of pesticide. The magnetism resulted from Fe3O4 endowed PRCRP a feasible magnetic collection performance. After the release of pesticide, PRCRP could be separated conveniently from water and soil with a high collection ratio. PRCRP displayed a high adhesion capacity on the weed surface and pest epidermis, a significantly controlled-release performance, a high UE, an outstanding control efficacy on weed and pest, and potential collectability in practice. Therefore, this technology may have a promising application potential in reducing pesticide residue and risk to the environment.

Graphical abstractA multifunctional nanopesticide system using chitosan modified magnetic diatomite with collectability was constructed and displayed outstanding control efficacy on weed and pest.Download high-res image (80KB)Download full-size image