Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Agrochemicals have been widely used in agricultural production to control various pests and diseases and improve crop yield. However, conventional agricultural practices are inefficient and substantially increase the amount of agrochemicals applied; excessive toxic agrochemicals entering food chains have a devastating impact on ecological safety and human health. This has raised urgent demands to explore new technologies to deliver agrochemicals precisely in a controllable manner. Although tremendous progress has been achieved in controlled release of medical drugs, advances pertaining to agrochemicals remain extraordinarily limited. To address those challenges, we propose to develop a range of smart carriers for the sustained release of agrochemicals (e.g., plant growth regulators, fertilizers and pesticides) using cellulose and lignin, the cost-effective materials from Canadian Pulp and Paper industry, as the biodegradable building blocks of desirable carriers for the applications in agriculture. The long-term objective of this research is to develop emerging technologies or platforms for the precise utilization and sustainable administration of agrochemicals that will meanwhile benefit environment. The short-term objectives of the research are: 1) to prepare cellulose and lignin-based hydrogels as well as lignin nanocarriers with tailored structures and multi-functionalities via well-designed synthesis strategies; 2) to incorporate stimulus-responsive or smart behaviors into agrochemical carriers via the crosslinking or coupling of cleavable linkages in hydrogels or nanocarriers to trigger the sustained release of agrochemicals on demand; 3) to cleverly utilize functional groups in carriers and those generated from carriers after agrochemical release to capture or stabilize heavy metal ions for soil remediation or benefiting plant growth; 4) to understand in-depth the performance of green-based carriers in the smart release of agrochemicals and subsequent metal ion complexation. To render the carriers smart, various responsive linkages for crosslinking and conjugation of agrochemicals will be incorporated into three types of carriers (cellulose-based, lignin-based hydrogels and nanocarriers) via unique synthesis routes with particular attention paid to pH, redox, temperature and enzyme responsive behaviors. The findings from this work will lead to indispensable technology for efficient agricultural production, creating value-added products for the pulp and paper industry and benefiting environmental protection. The proposed research also has strong impact on the training of highly qualified personnel, thus ensuring a steady supply of HQP for Canadian agricultural and environmental sectors as well as the pulp & paper industry.