Jayanti Patel

Application of New Solid Polymeric Dispersant, Easy-Sperse® P-20 (Spray-Dried Polymer Composites) in Suspension Concentrates and Water Dispersible Granule Formulations—Improvement in Suspensibility and Rain-fastnesss

Easy-Sperse® P-20 [ES P-20] is a synergistic, spray-dried composite of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and partially neutralized methyl vinyl ether maleic acid butyl/ethyl half ester polymer. In this work, ES P-20 was used as an additive in water-based suspension concentrate (SC) and water dispersible granule (WDG) for improving the suspensibility and rain-fastness performance of those samples. SC samples with 40 % Diuron, 30 % Isoproturon, and 40 % Imidacloprid were prepared. The suspensibility, rain-fastness, viscosity, pH, heat-aged stability, and particle size distribution were measured and compared. Our data showed that the use of ES P-20 could improve the SC suspensibility. The majority of the samples tested reached >70 % suspensibility at 0.2 %, 0.5 %, and 1 % active ingredients after dilution with water and after 4 h standing at room temperature. For some samples, the suspensibility was found to be >90 %, while the formulations without ES P-20 showed a suspensibility of

Approaches towards Design of Green Matrices to Formulate Agricultural and Bio-active Materials and Provide Improved Efficacy

Agricultural formulations containing hydrophobic active ingredients and spray solutions are used in aqueous medium. Typical concentrates are formulated as (a) solvent-based emulsifiable concentrates, (b) water-based suspension concentrates, (c) oil-based suspensions, and (d) solid forms like water-dispersible granules form the bulk of agricultural formulations. Efficacy of the active ingredients depends upon the particle/droplet size distribution in the spray solution and it is advantageous to have submicron size distribution with additional protection against wash off. Global awareness and strong regulatory initiative are the driving force for the design of green and environmentally friendly delivery matrices. Following approaches are viable solutions to address the green delivery targets. This paper will address typical examples of solvent pairs to formulate solvent-based formulations; stable micro-emulsion concentrates using all EPA approved (exemption from tolerance) components usable for food-crops. Water-based suspension concentrates with excellent suspensibility were developed by using newly developed polymer composites. Proprietary derivatized vegetable oils were used as self-emulsifying oils to formulate stable concentrates with good emulsification on dilution in water, without having to use conventional emulsifiers. Additional benefit with such compositions would be sustained release capability. Solventless zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) compositions were also developed for end-use applications with acceptable bio-activity by using proprietary polymer surfactant pairs.