TY - JOUR
T1 - Iron-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks and Their Polymer Composites for Sustainable Delivery of Herbicides
AU - Bhomick, ParimalC.
AU - Ivanovska, Evdokiya H.
AU - Mahmoud, Lila A. M.
AU - Doan, Huan V.
AU - Terry, Lui R.
AU - Addicoat, Matthew A.
AU - Rowlandson, Jemma L.
AU - Rochat, Sebastien
AU - Ting, Valeska P.
AU - Nayak, Sanjit
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2025/3/11
Y1 - 2025/3/11
N2 - Sustainable agriculture will play a key role in ensuring food security for the rising global population. Controlled and precision delivery of agrochemicals, such as herbicides and pesticides, plays a critical role in sustainable agriculture. Recently, porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown promising results for controlled agrochemical delivery. Because of their low toxicity and biocompatibility, iron-based metal–organic frameworks (Fe-MOFs) are highly suitable for applications in agriculture over many other MOFs. In this study, two iron-based MOFs, MIL-101(Fe) and NH2-MIL-101(Fe), and their biodegradable polymer composites were studied for controlled herbicide delivery. Two herbicides, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), were postsynthetically loaded into these two Fe-MOFs and incorporated into a biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) matrix to form composite membranes for ease of handling and delivery. MIL-101(Fe) showed loading capacities of 18.06 and 21.51 wt %, respectively, for 2,4-D and MCPA, while for NH2-MIL-101(Fe), the loading capacities for the same herbicides were 26.61 and 23.32 wt %. Despite high loading capacity, both MOFs showed a certain degree of degradation during herbicide loading. The release of 2,4-D and MCPA from MIL-101(Fe) and NH2-MIL-101(Fe) and their PCL composites were studied using UV–visible spectroscopy over a nine-day period. NH2-MIL-101(Fe) and its PCL composite demonstrated slower and more controlled release profiles of the herbicides compared to MIL-101(Fe) and its composites. The results were also corroborated by computational studies, which showed stronger interactions of the herbicides with NH2-MIL-101(Fe).
AB - Sustainable agriculture will play a key role in ensuring food security for the rising global population. Controlled and precision delivery of agrochemicals, such as herbicides and pesticides, plays a critical role in sustainable agriculture. Recently, porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown promising results for controlled agrochemical delivery. Because of their low toxicity and biocompatibility, iron-based metal–organic frameworks (Fe-MOFs) are highly suitable for applications in agriculture over many other MOFs. In this study, two iron-based MOFs, MIL-101(Fe) and NH2-MIL-101(Fe), and their biodegradable polymer composites were studied for controlled herbicide delivery. Two herbicides, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), were postsynthetically loaded into these two Fe-MOFs and incorporated into a biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) matrix to form composite membranes for ease of handling and delivery. MIL-101(Fe) showed loading capacities of 18.06 and 21.51 wt %, respectively, for 2,4-D and MCPA, while for NH2-MIL-101(Fe), the loading capacities for the same herbicides were 26.61 and 23.32 wt %. Despite high loading capacity, both MOFs showed a certain degree of degradation during herbicide loading. The release of 2,4-D and MCPA from MIL-101(Fe) and NH2-MIL-101(Fe) and their PCL composites were studied using UV–visible spectroscopy over a nine-day period. NH2-MIL-101(Fe) and its PCL composite demonstrated slower and more controlled release profiles of the herbicides compared to MIL-101(Fe) and its composites. The results were also corroborated by computational studies, which showed stronger interactions of the herbicides with NH2-MIL-101(Fe).
U2 - 10.1021/acsomega.4c07972
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.4c07972
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 40092778
SN - 2470-1343
VL - 10
SP - 9051
EP - 9061
JO - ACS Omega
JF - ACS Omega
IS - 9
ER -
