Nanopartículas de quitosana/tripolifosfato como sistema de liberação para o herbicida Paraquat: preparo, caracterização, interação com substâncias húmicas e avaliação da atividade biológica

Author(s)

Renato Grillo

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia
• Defense date: 2014-07-07

Examining board members

Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto; Amedea Barozzi Seabra; Elaine Cristina Mathias da Silva Zacarin; Gerson Araújo de Medeiros; Halley Caixeta de Oliveira

• Advisor: Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto

Abstract

Agrochemicals have become one of the most important compounds used in the world and are the main responsible for the increase in agricultural production. Paraquat, a non-selective herbicide used in several crops in the world, has high toxicity to living beings and considerable persistence in the soil, which led to its banishment in some countries. Although agrochemicals have an important function in increasing food production by minimizing pests, they can cause serious environmental impacts through contamination of soil and water resources. With the nanotechnology growth, several mechanisms have been studied in order to minimize these damages, such as the development of modified release systems using biodegradable polymers, which allows an increase in performance/efficiency of the product. Studies indicate that the natural organic matter present in the soil, sediment and water can interact with agrochemicals and nanoparticles, and therefore, modify the destination of these substances in the environment. The purpose of the present Thesis is to show results of the development and characterization of chitosan/trypolyphosphate polymeric nanoparticles for modified release of the Paraquat herbicide, as well as to study the stability and toxicity of this nanoparticles with the presence or absence of natural organic matter (mainly in the form of humic substances). Herbicide activity and sorption of the nanoparticulate herbicide in the soil were also evaluated. Chitosan/Trypolyphosphate nanoparticles (with or without Paraquat) have been prepared by ionic gelation method and presented average size, polydispersity index and zeta potential of ~ 300 nm, 0.250 and 45 mV, respectively. The Paraquat encapsulation efficiency was 62.6 ± 0.7 % and the nanoparticles showed themselves spherical and good colloidal stability. The release kinetics and sorption test in the soil showed that the nanoparticles modified the diffusion and release of herbicide and the mathematical model that best described the sorption kinetics was pseudo-second order. Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and ecotoxicity tests indicated that the association of Paraquat with the nanoparticles reduced the toxic effect, since less herbicide was released into the environment as function of time, but even so, the herbicidal activity was preserved or enhanced. The presence of humic substances in the medium altered the dynamic equilibrium of the herbicide in solution, and diminished the toxicity of the nanoparticle/paraquat system. This study has innovative and promising results that open new discussions and perspectives for the development of modified release systems for agrochemicals (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/01872-6 - Polymeric nanoparticles as delivery system for herbicides: preparation, characterization, interaction with humic substances and assessment of biological activity
• Grantee: Renato Grillo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate