Developing a mathematical model for the controlled release over time of sulfentrazone herbicide from biodegradable polymer

Abstract

In our research group, controlled release systems for the sulfentrazone herbicide has been accomplished by encapsulating this bioactive compound into calcium alginate (Ca-ALG) biodegradable polymer fashion and the release mechanisms were verifed by using Korsmeyer-Peppas model (KP). However, the KP model does not allow to evaluate all the phenomena involved in the (Mt/M8 versus t) curves. Thus, the aim of this work is the development of a new mathematical model to interpret the distinct regions of the controlled release assays of the Sulfentrazone herbicide encapsulated in Ca-ALG microparticles and that can be used for other systems with a similar release profle. The proposed model is based on the herbicide diffusion, dissolution and polymer surface erosion. The results show that the proposed model is closest to the experimental curve when compared to the KP. The new mathematical model allows not just to describe the behavior of the system in terms of Fick's law, but to know what type of mechanism act in the herbicide release process.