Constructing slow-release formulations of herbicide metribuzin using its co-extrusion with biodegradable polyester poly-ε-caprolactone.

Different technologies to prepare long term pesticide forms include polymer coating, preparing composites and encapsulating pesticides in nanoparticles. A simple and low-cost method was proposed to obtain slow-release formulations by co-extrusion of a pesticide with a biodegradable polymer at a temperature above the melting points of both components. A herbicide metribuzin and low-melting polyester poly-ε-caprolactone were chosen for this work.

Constructing Slow-Release Formulations of Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer Based on Degradable Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate).

The present study describes construction and investigation of experimental formulations of ammonium nitrate embedded in a matrix of degradable natural polymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)] and P(3HB) blended with wood flour shaped as tablets, some of them coated with P(3HB). Kinetics of ammonium release into soil as dependent on the composition of the polymer matrix was investigated in laboratory experiments. The rates of fertilizer release from formulations coated with a biopolymer layer were considerably (two months or longer) slower than the rates of fertilizer release from uncoated formulations, while release from polymer and composite (polymer/wood flour) formulations occurred with comparable rates.