Formulation and physicochemical properties of promising avermectin microemulsion with biodegradable surfactant and oil

Green microemulsion suitable for oil-soluble pesticide delivery has been prepared using butyl acetate as oil phase, alkyl polyglycoside (APG) and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) as mixed surfactant, and short-chain alcohol as cosurfactant. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were constructed to investigate the effects of APG and LAS mixing ratio, the chain length of the cosurfactant on the microemulsion phase behavior. A fully dilutable region run through the phase diagram can be observed and the structure of the microemulsion transformed from water-in-oil, bicontinuous to oil-in-water along with the addition of water according to the result of conductivity measurement. Based on the phase diagram, the avermectin microemulsion formulations were chosen from the fully dilutable line with the minimum surfactant-to-oil ratio. Dilution stability of the microemulsion with hard water was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS), the microemulsion can maintain the uniform and homogeneous appearance although the droplet size increased after dilution. The diluted microemulsion were also studied by dynamic surface tension and dynamic contact angle, and the excellent wetting and spreading properties on hydrophobic surface was demonstrated.