Author(s)

Lami A. Nnamonu, Rufus Sha’Ato, Ikenna Onyido

Department of Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria.

In a bid to make slow release formulations of imazaquin, the herbicide was encapsulated in starch and chitosan beads reinforced with alginate. The beads were characterized using SEM, DSC and FTIR. Two types of formulations were made by extrusion into 0.25 M calcium chloride solution: chitosan/alginate (LNCI) and starch/alginate (LNSI) beads, and the third was by gelatinization of starch at 75?C (LNSI2). Findings showed highly porous spherical beads, the starch/alginate beads bigger and less porous than the chitosan/alginate beads with diameters of 2.53 ± 0.01 and 2.31 ± 0.01 mm; porosity of 57.58% ± 0.2% and 81.28% ± 0.2% and swelling of 34.91% ± 0.2% and 80.35% ± 0.2%, respectively. FTIR revealed a reduction in intensity of the carboxylate peaks of alginate and the peak at 1058 cm?1, present in the FTIR of the matrices, is shifted to lower wave-numbers in the formulations, signifying interactions between the formulation components that make for good slow release. The DSC thermograms of all formulations showed evidence of interaction of imazaquin carboxylate group with the N-atoms of the macromolecules, which is indicative of reduced crystallinity of imazaquin.

Alginate; Chitosan; Starch; Encapsulation; Imazaquin

L. Nnamonu, R. Sha’Ato and I. Onyido, "Alginate Reinforced Chitosan and Starch Beads in Slow Release Formulation of Imazaquin Herbicide—Preparation and Characterization," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 3 No. 8, 2012, pp. 566-574. doi: 10.4236/msa.2012.38081.