Nanotechnology developed in Brazil reduces the amount of herbicide by 80 times

A new nanotechnology developed in Brazil managed to reduce by 80 times the amount of atrazine herbicide needed to combat weeds.

The research was conducted by the Environmental Nanotechnology Group of the Institute of Science and Technology of Sorocaba, from the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), led by chemist Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, Ph.D. in Functional and Molecular Biology from Unicamp and professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering at Unesp.

In partnership with scientists from the State University of Londrina, the new technology was patented in 2021.

″The use recommended by the manufacturers of atrazine is 2 kilos per hectare of cultivated area, on average. In 2019, we had already managed to reduce the use of atrazine tenfold, to 200 grams per hectare, thanks to the development of nanoparticles that encapsulate herbicide and make its use more efficient. Now we have gone further and developed a new technology that has reduced usage by 80 times the recommended 2 kilos,″ the group said.

″It is necessary to dilute 25 grams of the herbicide encapsulated in the molecule of this new technology to obtain the same results of the original formulation,″ Fraceto explained in a note.

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology involves manipulating materials on the molecular and atomic scales, operating with structures in the order of magnitude from 1 to 100 nanometers, and controlling systems almost atom by atom.

Nanotechnology is a consolidated resource that makes it possible to improve the properties of materials in current use or to obtain completely new properties from them. It has wide application in very varied fields - from information technology to medicine, from agriculture to pharmacy, from energy generation to the manufacture of clothes.

Researcher Elson Longo, from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) stated, ″A herbicide encapsulated in nanoparticles that makes it possible to reduce the concentration of the active ingredient by 80 times,″ has been developed.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)