Surfactant-Assisted intercalation of quintozene into layered zinc hydroxide nitrate for controlled release applications

In this research, a fungicide, namely quintozene (QZ) fungicide, was successfully intercalated into zinc hydroxide nitrates (ZHN) with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) surfactant by using a co-precipitate and direct reaction method to form new nanomaterials, ZHN-SDS-QZ. PXRD analysis indicated the successful intercalation with the basal spacing of 33.6 Å. The presence of QZ fungicides in the interlayer space of zinc layered hydroxide is also supported by FTIR and elemental analysis. The thermal analysis confirmed that ZHN-SDS-QZ nanomaterials had good thermal stability compared to the pure QZ. The intercalation of QZ leads to important changes in the morphology, porosity and surface area. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms reveal that the adsorption isotherm types according to BET analysis for ZHN–SDS are Type IV, while for ZHN-SDS-QZ are Type III. The release into aqueous solution of Na3PO4 and Na2CO3 was governed by pseudo-second order, while for the aqueous solution of NaCl was the Fickian diffusion model. Overall, this nanomaterial is a promising material to develop pest control solutions in the agriculture sector that are effective, yet promote minimal risk to human health and the environment, ensuring food security, safety and ecological sustainability. This study demonstrates that ZHN-SDS-QZ exhibits enhanced stability and controlled release behaviour, making it a promising nanocarrier for sustainable agrochemical delivery.