Encapsulation of glyphosate herbicide with metal nanoparticles and water soluble polymers for controlled release of herbicide

Encapsulation is one of the quality preservation techniques of sensitive substances and a method for production of materials with new valuable properties. A laboratory experiment was carried out at the Department of Nano Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to encapsulate the glyphosate herbicide to improve the translocation efficiency. Different kinds of metal nanoparticles such as iron oxide and silver nanoparticles were synthesized in the laboratory. They were characterized for their functionality, size, shape and composition using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and EDAX. Two polymers such as Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) and Poly Styrene Sulfonate (PSS) were chosen based on their solubility. Encapsulation of glyphosate herbicide with the water soluble polymers and nanoparticles was done by spray drying method. The recovery per cent of encapsulated products was calculated based on initial concentration of glyphosate taken for encapsulation. Glyphosate encapsulated with polymers recorded 93.5 per cent of recovery. The other treatments such as glyphosate with iron oxide and glyphosate with silver nanoparticles showed recovery of 92.4 and 92.6 per cent, respectively.