Targeted agrochemical delivery using smart nanoparticles for sustainable agriculture

在可预见的未来，粮食安全、农业产量增加和更良性的农业方法是必不可少的愿望。作为这项研究的一部分，将活性成分(AI)包裹在生物兼容和可生物降解的纳米颗粒中，有望增强所含AI的有益性质，并减轻其更有害的影响，例如聚己内酯纳米胶囊中包含的阿特拉津。本研究的目的是使用新开发的脂类纳米颗粒(LNP)来定向和环境响应性地传递农用化学品。LNP将被设计为通过缓释来传递农用化学品。此外，pH响应型LNP将被设计用来传递链霉内酯类化合物，以促进植物与根和土壤真菌之间的共生关系，这种共生关系称为菌根。同时，小角中子/X射线散射和低温电子显微镜将阐明LNP的结构特征，为合理设计输送载体提供依据。AI的释放效率将使用荧光显微镜进行测定。最终，LNP的环境行为和特性将在全球食品与环境研究所大学农场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.