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Zirconium-based MOFs and their biodegradable polymer composites for controlled and sustainable delivery of herbicides

Yes / Adsorption and controlled release of agrochemicals has been studied widely using different nanomaterials and a variety of formulations. However, the potential for application of high surface-area metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the controlled release of agrochemicals has not been thoroughly explored. Herein, we report controlled and sustainable release of a widely used herbicide (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, MCPA) via incorporation in a range of zirconium-based MOFs and their biodegradable polymer composites. Three Zr-based MOFs, viz., UiO-66, UiO-66-NH2, and UiO-67 were loaded with MCPA either postsynthetically or in situ during synthesis of the MOFs. The MCPA-loaded MOFs were then incorporated into a biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) composite membrane. All three MOFs and their PCL composites were thoroughly characterized using FT-IR, TGA, SEM, PXRD, BET, and mass spectrometry. Release of MCPA from each of these MOFs and their PCL composites was then studied in both distilled water and in ethanol for up to 72 h using HPLC. The best performance for MCPA release was observed for the postsynthetically loaded MOFs, with PS-MCPA@UiO-66-NH2 showing the highest MCPA concentrations in ethanol and water of 0.056 and 0.037 mg/mL, respectively. Enhanced release of MCPA was observed in distilled water when the MOFs were incorporated in PCL. The concentrations of herbicides in the release studies provide us with a range of inhibitory concentrations that can be utilized depending on the crop, making this class of composite materials a promising new route for future agricultural applications. / L.A.M.M. and S.N. acknowledge funding for a studentship by the Erasmus+ KA107 Student Mobility programme. V.P.T and L.R.T. acknowledge funding from the EPSRC (EP/R01650X/1)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/19105
Date29 July 2022
CreatorsMahmoud, L.A.M., Telford, Richard, Livesey, T.C., Katsikogianni, Maria G., Kelly, Adrian L., Terry, L.R., Ting, V.P., Nayak, Sanjit
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle, Published version
Rights© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, CC-BY

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