Component Effects on Agricultural Spray

Regulating the spray behavior of liquids is of great importance in various practical applications, especially in improving pesticide utilization efficiency because the spray states are directly related to the spray drift and deposition efficiency. The components of pesticides, including surfactants, polymers, and active ingredients, were found to influence spray behavior significantly. However, because of both the complexity of interactions in sprayed liquids and the technology limit, only a few specific aspects of the formation of droplets have been studied, and a comprehensive and general understanding is still lacking. This brief review summarizes the effects of surfactants, polymers, and active ingredients on spray and highlights the underlying mechanisms related to sheet breakup and droplet formation. Other factors that warrant detailed exploration in the future are proposed, including dilatational viscoelasticity, zeta potential, aggregation, and sheet thickness. Finally, insights into the design of spray additives for agricultural applications are provided.