Agriculture
Today, agriculture faces enormous challenges. On the one hand, farmers have to work as productively and economically as possible, and on the other hand, they are required to produce in an ecologically sustainable way. Surflay can support agriculture with innovative encapsulation techniques for pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
Projects
Encapsulation of fungicides
Description
An encapsulation was developed for poorly water-soluble fungicide particles that allows them to adhere to the leaf surface.
This means that the fungicides are no longer washed away by rain and remain at the site of action, which requires significantly less frequent treatment of the plants and thus allows better protection of the groundwater.
Partner
- ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
Encapsulated fungicides for permanent wood protection in viticulture
Description
Wood used as supports in viticulture is destroyed relatively quickly by fungi.
Even copper-containing salts do not protect against this, as the microorganisms have become resistant due to decades of use. Even modern fungicides only help for a limited time if the wood is dipped in them.
In order to achieve a long-term release, encapsulated fungicide nanoparticles were produced and inserted into the wood.
Partner
- Kurt Obermeier GmbH & Co. KG, Bad Berleburg, Germany
Fertilizer encapsulation with 100% biodegradable materials (wax, PCL) controlled release
Description
Fertilizers are usually easily soluble in water and are washed out of the soil relatively quickly by rain.
Encapsulation strategies with mostly synthetic polymers are therefore used, which delay the release for up to a year and thus ensure a continuous supply of nutrients.
The quantity of polymeric encapsulation materials, which make up 8-12% of the fertilizer, is problematic. With hundreds of thousands of tons of fertilizer applied to the fields every year, this amounts to tens of thousands of tons of microplastics that pollute the environment in the long term.
We have therefore developed encapsulations based on natural waxes or biodegradable polymers (polycaprolactone).
Partner
- Smart Soil Technologies GmbH, Blankenfelde-Mahlow, Germany
Pelleting seeds
Description
They are coated with a layer of clay, loam or rock flour for the controlled sowing of seeds.
After sowing, this layer must have an appropriate dissolution rate. For rice in particular, it must be relatively slow so that the rice grains do not float after sowing.
We therefore stabilized these layers in a targeted manner by subsequently complexing them with minimal quantities of natural polyelectrolytes, so that complete detachment only took place after a few days.
Partner
- Instant Seed GmbH, Blankenfelde-Mahlow, Germany
