Tebuconazole-Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Encapsulated with Chitosan and Their Application in Wheat Growth

Controlled-release pesticide formulation exhibiting lowphytotoxicityand long-term effectiveness is highly promising. In this work, a novelpH stimuli-responsive pesticide delivery system was established bycombining spray drying with ion cross-linking to coat chitosan ontotebuconazole-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Teb@MSNs@CS).The results demonstrated that the loading capacity of Teb@MSNs@CSfor tebuconazole (Teb) was approximately 25.80%. The chitosan attachedon the mesoporous silica nanoparticles could extend the release timeof Teb both in the solution medium and soil column. Meanwhile, thecoated chitosan endowed the pH-responsive release of Teb. The bioactivitysurvey confirmed that Teb@MSNs@CS exhibited enhanced control of Fusarium graminearum compared to pure Teb. Moreover,Teb@MSNs@CS displayed lower phytotoxicity than both Teb@MSNs and pureTeb during wheat germination and seeding growth experiments. As revealedby the above-mentioned results, the use of responsive carriers asthe pesticide-delivery systems can be potentially implemented in wheatgrowth.