Development of lignin-coated natural polysaccharide-based nanopesticides for both high foliar adhesion and rapid release of pesticide molecules against bacteriostasis

Abstract

The development of novel intelligent systems for controlling pesticide release has emerged as a crucial strategy in contemporary agriculture, aimed at enhancing the efficacy of pesticide application and mitigating environmental hazards. To address the technical bottleneck of low drug utilization rate in large-area spraying, a novel pesticide-controlled release system (NES@LCMs) with high adhesion and low-temperature responsiveness was developed by utilizing chitosan (CS) and methylcellulose (MC) as substrates, which were subsequently coated with lignin (LGN) to enhance the stability of the microspheres. The results showed that the drug-carrying microspheres based on natural polysaccharides can maintain a high deposition rate and avoid the degradation of pesticide molecules by sunlight. Meanwhile, the results of the release experiments demonstrated that NES@LCMs exhibited enhanced inhibitory effects under acidic and low-temperature conditions. The antifungal activity experiments demonstrated that the NES@LCMs exhibited a remarkable efficacy of 82.7% against Gibberella zeae (G. zeae), thereby enabling intelligent controlled release and extended control duration. The biosafety experiments demonstrated that the NES@LCMs nanoparticles significantly reduced the toxicity of NES towards organisms. Therefore, the pH and temperature dual-responsive NES@LCMs nanoparticles show promising potential for enhanced targeting efficacy and environmental safety.