Nanoemulsion Formulations of Fungicide Tebuconazole for Agricultural Applications

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 10; p. 1271
• Main Authors: Díaz-Blancas, Vianney, Medina, Dora I, Padilla-Ortega, Erika, Bortolini-Zavala, Raquel, Olvera-Romero, Melissa, Luna-Bárcenas, Gabriel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.09.2016; MDPI
• Subjects: Agriculture; Energy; Fungicides; Groundwater; nanoemulsion; Nanoemulsions; organic-to-surfactant ratio; Pathogens; Pesticides; Solvents; Surfactants; tebuconazole; Toxicity; Mexico; nanoemulsion; organic-to-surfactant ratio; tebuconazole
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules21101271

Tebuconazole (TBZ) nanoemulsions (NEs) were formulated using a low energy method. TBZ composition directly affected the drop size and surface tension of the NE. Water fraction and the organic-to-surfactant-ratio (R ) were evaluated in the range of 1-90 and 1-10 wt %, respectively. The study was carried out with an organic phase (OP) consisting of an acetone/glycerol mixture containing TBZ at a concentration of 5.4 wt % and Tween 80 (TW80) as a nonionic and Agnique BL1754 (AG54) as a mixture of nonionic and anionic surfactants. The process involved a large dilution of a bicontinuous microemulsion (ME) into an aqueous phase (AP). Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams of the OP//TW80//AP and OP//AG54//AP systems at T = 25 °C were determined to map ME regions; these were in the range of 0.49-0.90, 0.01-0.23, and 0.07-0.49 of OP, AP, and surfactant, respectively. Optical microscope images helped confirm ME formation and system viscosity was measured in the range of 25-147 cP. NEs with drop sizes about 9 nm and 250 nm were achieved with TW80 and AG54, respectively. An innovative low-energy method was used to develop nanopesticide TBZ formulations based on nanoemulsion (NE) technology. The surface tension of the studied systems can be lowered 50% more than that of pure water. This study's proposed low-energy NE formulations may prove useful in sustainable agriculture.