Preparation and performance of chlorfenapyr microcapsules with a degradable polylactide-based polyurethane wall material

Abstract

To improve the utilization rate of chlorfenapyr and make the wall material of chlorfenapyr microcapsules easily degradable, polylactide diol, toluene diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol were used to prepare a chlorfenapyr microcapsule suspension by interfacial polymerization. The product was characterized by the methods of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the microcapsule particles were spherical, with an encapsulation efficiency of 84.20%. The diluted product had good wetting and spreading abilities on cabbage leaves. Compared with other commercial formulations, the slow-release effect of the microcapsule suspension was more obvious and the release mechanisms conform to Fickian diffusion, with the release rate controllable by adjusting the external pH conditions. Furthermore, the wall material of the microcapsules showed good degradation performance in a phosphate-buffered solution. Microencapsulation by this method significantly increased the validity period of chlorfenapyr and the wall material was also degraded easily.