APonics
APonics (product in development) is an innovative, sustainable adjuvant for pesticides. After adding APonics into pesticides, its unique thermoreversible property enables the complete mixture to be liquid at low temperature and forms a gel at higher temperatures. With the use of APonics, we create a slow release system of the pesticides.
The discovery
Chemists at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, have discovered a polymer gel which has the property of being liquid at low temperature and solid at high temperature. This is unique as the temperature sensitivity of APonics is exactly opposite to the how generally hydrogels gelate. The product name of this material is APonics. The transition from liquid to a gel takes place between 14 and 40 °C (the gel can be adjusted to the desired transition temperature within this range). APonics polymer consists of a polyisocyanopeptide having a helical structure which dissolves in water. A detailed description of the polymer synthesis and properties was published in Nature on 24 January 2013 (Responsive biomimetic networks from polyisicyanopeptide hydrogels, 2013;K ouwer, P.H.J. et al.; A.E.Nature, 493, 651 – 655. ISSN 0028-0836).
The advantages of APonics
- Increase pesticide coverage above 90%
- Decreace pesticide drip-off between 30-50%
- Decrease pesticide usage 50%
- Less consumption of water (less than 50%)
- Less environmental damage
Ecolabels:
