%0 Journal Article 
%A Rodríguez Mejías, Francisco Javier
%A López Haro, Miguel
%A Cervera Gontard, Lionel
%A Cala Peralta, Antonio
%A Fernández-Aparicio, Mónica
%A González Molinillo, José María
%A Calvino Gámez, José Juan
%A Macías Domínguez, Francisco Antonio
%T A Novel Electron Microscopic Characterization of Core/Shell Nanobiostimulator Against Parasitic Plants
%D 2017
%@ 1944-8252
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/33366
%X Nanoencapsulation has proven to be an efficient route to increase significantly the solubility and bioavailability of organic compounds. This aspect of nanotechnology is illustrated for the case of phthalimide-lactone (PL), a recently synthesized strigolactone mimic whose very limited solubility in water, as a free chemical, precludes its practical use as an agrochemical in the fight against parasitic plants. Pluronic F-127 (P127) nanoparticles functionalized with PL have been synthesized and embedded in a polymeric matrix of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Low-voltage and medium voltage imaging and spectroscopic scanning electron microscopy (S(T)EM) techniques were combined to confirm the synthesis of multicore nanoparticles that were rich in nitrogen, a finding that is due to the successful encapsulation of PL. This PL@P127/PVA nanobiostimulator formulation has an impressive solubility in water, that is, 27 times higher than that of pure phthalimide-lactone. Also critical from the functional point of view, comparative bioassays clearly showed that the intrinsic stimulatory activity of this agrochemical is fully maintained in the nanoencapsulated formulation.
%K nanostimulator
%K parasitic plant
%K electron microscopy
%K organic nanoparticle
%K honeypot strategy
%~ Universidad de Cádiz