Design and development of aqueous nanoformulations for mosquito control.

Microemulsions (ME) are thermodynamically stable isotropic mixtures of oil, water, and surfactant; they would also be attractive as potential insecticidal products due to the high bioviability of the active ingredient, attributable to the small sizes of the oil drops. A laboratory study was conducted in order to compare the biological effect of oil in water (o/w) geranium essential oil (EO) and geraniol MEs and emulsions, against Culex pipiens pipiens mosquito larvae. The systems were based on three nonionic surfactants (Cremophor EL, Brij 35, Tween 80).