Glutathione-responsive abamectin-loaded hollow mesoporous organosilicon nanospheres for their intelligent controlled release

The development of stimulus-responsive controlled-release formulation is an ideal selection to enhance the effective utilization and minimize the excessive use of pesticides in agriculture. In this work, a glutathione-responsive pesticide delivery systems using hollow mesoporous organosilicon nanospheres fortified with thioether-bonded shell (HMS-ss) as carriers were developed for controlling abamectin release. The results demonstrated the loading capacity of abamectin@HMS-ss for abamectin was approximately 11.65% and the HMS-ss could protected the abamectin effectively from UV-induced degradation. The cumulative release rate of abamectin from abamectin@HMS-ss reached 84% with the addition of glutathione (96 h), which indicated that the disulfide-bridged structure of nanoparticles could be decomposed and consequently release of the abamectin on demand when nanoparticles were metabolized by glutathione. Furthermore, the survival rate of aphid with treatment of abamectin@HMS-ss treatment (50 mg L−1) was about 21.67%, which is lower than that of abamectin suspension. The bioactivity survey confirmed that abamectin@HMS-ss had a longer duration in controlling aphid compared to abamectin suspension. In consideration of the superior insecticidal activity and simplicity of preparation, this target-specific pesticide release system has promising potential in pest management.