Targeted agrochemical delivery using smart nanoparticles for sustainable agriculture

粮食安全、提高农业产量和更良性的农业方法是可预见未来的必要愿望。作为其中的一部分，将活性成分（AI）封装在生物相容性和可生物降解的纳米颗粒中，有望增强所含AI的有益特性并减轻其更有害的影响，例如聚（埃普西隆-己内酯）纳米胶囊中所含的阿特拉津。本研究的目标是使用新开发的脂质纳米颗粒（LNP's）用于农药的靶向和环境响应性输送。LNP将被设计为通过缓慢释放来输送农用化学品。此外，ph响应LNP将被设计为提供独脚金内酯，以加强促进植物与根和土壤真菌之间的共生关系，即菌根。脂质纳米颗粒将使用微流体工具生产。同时，利用小角中子/ x射线散射和低温透射电镜对LNP的结构特性进行分析，为合理设计传递载体提供依据。AI释放效率将用荧光显微镜测定。最终，LNP的环境行为和特性将在全球食品与环境大学农场研究所的农业环境中进行测试。

Food security, increased agricultural yield and more benign agricultural methods are requisite aspirations for the foreseeable future. As part of this, encapsulation of active ingredients (AI's) within biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles has promise by which to enhance the beneficial properties of contained AI's and mitigate their more pernicious effects, for example atrazine contained within poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsules.The aspiration of this research is to use newly developed lipid nanoparticles (LNP's) for the targeted and environmentally responsive delivery of agrochemicals.LNP's will be designed to deliver agrochemicals via slow release. Furthermore, pH-responsive LNP's will be designed to deliver strigolactones to enhance to promote the symbiotic relationship between plants with roots and soil fungi known as mycorrhizas.The lipid nanoparticles will be produced using microfluidic tools. Meanwhile, Small Angle Neutron/X-rays scattering and cryo-TEM will elucidate structural characteristics of the LNP's for rational design of delivery vectors. AI release efficiency will be determined using fluorescent microscopy. Eventually, the environmental behaviour and properties of the LNP's will be tested in an agricultural setting at the Global Institute of Food and Environment University Farm.