Surfactant Chemistry Research Drives Crop Protection Innovation

Pesticides play a critical role in safeguarding crop yields, and their use is on the rise. According to the most recent United Nations report¹ (2022), global pesticide consumption has doubled since 1990. But their effectiveness is often undermined by environmental loss and associated environmental risks. To make pesticides safer and more efficient, scientists turn to surfactant chemistry.

Surfactants increase the likelihood that pesticides stay where they’re needed and work as intended. When added to pesticide formulations, surfactants improve spreading, wetting, and absorption. These properties increase pesticide efficacy in leaf-applied protection, seed coatings, and soil applications, and they help minimize loss from spray drift, runoff, volatilization, and evaporation.

Research on surfactant behavior on a variety of surfaces informs how scientists enhance pesticide performance, retention, foliar penetration, and rainfastness. In addition to titles like ACS Agricultural Science and Technology and the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, researchers should look to other publications for high-impact knowledge that can be applied to agricultural research. For example, a recent study of droplet splash dynamics by Varghese et al. published in Langmuir demonstrates the effect of surfactants on droplet impact. Langmuir is a highly cited journal focused on interfaces, which may not make it a journal agricultural researchers read regularly, but this investigation into surfactants has direct implications for spraying both pesticides and fertilizer in agriculture.

As with interface research, agricultural researchers may not pay close attention to nanostructure synthesis, yet it too holds important implications for pesticide use. A study on nanomaterial design by Comer et al. published in ACS Nano demonstrates the reliability of molecular dynamics simulation to predict absorption. Using atrazine, the authors model nanomaterial design that optimizes atrazine absorption and delivery, which could significantly increase the efficacy of this common herbicide.

As agriculture strives to produce more with fewer environmental side effects amid changing environmental conditions, surfactant chemistry and other research areas offer a path forward. By revealing the chemical principles that support innovation, research in journals focused on disciplines outside of agriculture enable breakthroughs in effective and sustainable crop protection.

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Read More Surfactant Articles in ACS Journals

Enhancing Droplet Spreading on a Hydrophobic Plant Surface by Surfactant/Cellulose Nanocrystal Complexes
Gaili Cao, Weinan Zhao, Lian Han, Youchao Teng, Shikuan Xu, Han Nguyen, and Kam Chiu Tam*
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c13542

Strategy for the Selection of Tank-Mix Adjuvants to Improve the Wetting of Foliar Pesticide Sprays
Dan Liu, Bo Pan, Bingjie Wang, Yong Lin, and Lei Jiang*
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c05121

Effect of Surfactants on the Splashing Dynamics of Drops Impacting Smooth Substrates
Nonu Varghese, Thomas C. Sykes, Miguel A. Quetzeri-Santiago, Alfonso A. Castrejón-Pita, and J. Rafael Castrejón-Pita*
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03248

Deposition and Spread of Aqueous Pesticide Droplets on Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Surfaces by Fast Aggregation of Surfactants
Yaxun Fan and Yilin Wang*
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c00282

Design and Synthesis of a Water-Based Nanodelivery Pesticide System for Improved Efficacy and Safety
Changcheng An, Bingna Huang, Jiajun Jiang, Xinyue Wang, Ningjun Li, Huihui Liu, Yue Shen, Changjiao Sun, Shenshan Zhan, Xingye Li, Chong Wang, Zhanghua Zeng, Haixin Cui, Qingjun Wu, Youjun Zhang, Zhiling Guo, Peng Zhang, Iseult Lynch, Jin-Ming Gao*, and Yan Wang*
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c08854

Antisurfactant (Autophobic) Behavior of Superspreader Surfactant Solutions on Hydrophobic Plant Leaves
Bijoy Bera*, Ellen H. G. Backus, Odile Carrier, Mischa Bonn, Noushine Shahidzadeh, and Daniel Bonn
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00475

The Use of Folate/Zinc Supramolecular Hydrogels to Increase Droplet Deposition on Chenopodium album L. Leaves
Yuying Song, Chong Cao*, Kaerdun Liu, Jianbin Huang, Li Zheng, Lidong Cao, Fengmin Li, Pengyue Zhao, and Qiliang Huang*
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03396

Simple, Effective, and Ecofriendly Strategy to Inhibit Droplet Bouncing on Hydrophobic Weed Leaves
Yue Ma, Yuxia Gao, Kefei Zhao, Hao Zhang, Zilu Li, Fengpei Du*, and Jun Hu*
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c13066

Impact Behaviors on Superhydrophobic Surfaces for Water Droplets of Asymmetric Double-Chain Quaternary Ammonium Surfactants
Haofei Li, Zhuojun Cai, and Yilin Wang*
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c02783

Enhancing Droplet Deposition on Wired and Curved Superhydrophobic Leaves
Meirong Song*, Duan Hu, Xianfu Zheng, Lixia Wang, Zhilun Yu, Wankai An, Risong Na, Chuxin Li, Ning Li, Zhouhui Lu, Zhichao Dong*, Yilin Wang*, and Lei Jiang
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b02457

Topology-Regulated Pesticide Retention on Plant Leaves through Concave Janus Carriers
Kefei Zhao, Jun Hu, Yue Ma, Tianyue Wu, Yuxia Gao*, and Fengpei Du*
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b02319

Controlling Pesticide Loss through Nanonetworks
Yubin Xiang, Min Wang, Xiao Sun, Dongqing Cai*, and Zhengyan Wu*
DOI: 10.1021/sc400513p

References

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Pesticides Use and Trade – 1990–2022; FAOSTAT Analytical Briefs No. 89; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd1486en (accessed 2025-04-28).
2. Andersen, Ely. Evaluation of Salt-Based Adjuvants on Weed Control with Glufosinate and Glyphosate Herbicide Tank-Mixtures; M.S. Thesis, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 2021. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agronhortdiss/228