274
Q. Liu et al.
agrochemicals have become the mainstream direction of agrochemicals development, and more opportunities for green agrochemical products have been arising.
However, poor compatibility between high-efficiency agrochemicals and the solvent
and auxiliary agents which cannot achieve the environmental expectations, which
requires green solvent and auxiliary agents. If the traditional developmental pattern
cannot be changed in the process of agrochemical preparation, it is difficult to form
a new agrochemical product to meet the environmental requirements nowadays. Oil
and fats are primary products and derivatives of plants and petroleum. In this part, the
application research progress of oil and fat in the field of agrochemical auxiliaries in
recent years is reviewed.
9.2.1 Application in Emulsions and Emulsions in Water
Solvent is an important component in emulsions and water emulsions of agrochemicals. The solvent mainly plays a role in dissolving and diluting the active components.
The better solvent should include enough solubility for the active components, nonreactive to the active ingredients, low toxicity to humans and animals, safe to the
crops, cost-effective, high volatility, safe to the environment, etc. At present, the
common solvents are either aromatic or non-aromatic. Aromatics will be limited or
gradually banned due to toxicity and causing environmental problems. Oil solvents
are a kind of non-aromatic hydrocarbon solvent, and have been used as a substitute
for the harmful aromatic hydrocarbon solvents and polar solvents. Oil solvents are a
better choice for the future development of environmentally friendly emulsions and
water emulsions.
Common plant oils include turpentine, vegetable oils, modified vegetable oils, and
plant essential oils. Turpentine is a colorless or pale yellow liquid with a solubility
between solvent oil and benzene. Pine oil is extracted by the solvent or steam distillation of branches and leaves of pine trees. It has strong emulsification, wettability,
and permeability for washing, paint, and oil solvents. Vegetable oils are mainly corn
oil, rapeseed oil, and soybean oil. The main component of vegetable oil is fatty acid
triglyceride, which is composed of saturated or unsaturated fatty acid glycerol of
C14–C18. Vegetable oils are safe, but the complex components, low solubility and
stability are their major disadvantages. The modified vegetable oil is a vegetable oil
that forms methyl ester by chemical or enzymatic interesterification. The advantage
of modified vegetable oils is the enhanced safety and dissolution performance, and
its synergetic effect on most agrochemicals. The disadvantage of modified vegetable
oils is the complexity of their composition. For example, poor stability due to the
nature of vegetable oil species; high condensation point due to methyl esterification
or methylation of vegetable oil. Plant essential oils are a kind of volatile oily liquid produced from secondary metabolite of plants. Most of them are photo-reactive.
Plant essential oils have excellent biological activity, excellent solubility, and high
safety.
Q. Liu et al.
agrochemicals have become the mainstream direction of agrochemicals development, and more opportunities for green agrochemical products have been arising.
However, poor compatibility between high-efficiency agrochemicals and the solvent
and auxiliary agents which cannot achieve the environmental expectations, which
requires green solvent and auxiliary agents. If the traditional developmental pattern
cannot be changed in the process of agrochemical preparation, it is difficult to form
a new agrochemical product to meet the environmental requirements nowadays. Oil
and fats are primary products and derivatives of plants and petroleum. In this part, the
application research progress of oil and fat in the field of agrochemical auxiliaries in
recent years is reviewed.
9.2.1 Application in Emulsions and Emulsions in Water
Solvent is an important component in emulsions and water emulsions of agrochemicals. The solvent mainly plays a role in dissolving and diluting the active components.
The better solvent should include enough solubility for the active components, nonreactive to the active ingredients, low toxicity to humans and animals, safe to the
crops, cost-effective, high volatility, safe to the environment, etc. At present, the
common solvents are either aromatic or non-aromatic. Aromatics will be limited or
gradually banned due to toxicity and causing environmental problems. Oil solvents
are a kind of non-aromatic hydrocarbon solvent, and have been used as a substitute
for the harmful aromatic hydrocarbon solvents and polar solvents. Oil solvents are a
better choice for the future development of environmentally friendly emulsions and
water emulsions.
Common plant oils include turpentine, vegetable oils, modified vegetable oils, and
plant essential oils. Turpentine is a colorless or pale yellow liquid with a solubility
between solvent oil and benzene. Pine oil is extracted by the solvent or steam distillation of branches and leaves of pine trees. It has strong emulsification, wettability,
and permeability for washing, paint, and oil solvents. Vegetable oils are mainly corn
oil, rapeseed oil, and soybean oil. The main component of vegetable oil is fatty acid
triglyceride, which is composed of saturated or unsaturated fatty acid glycerol of
C14–C18. Vegetable oils are safe, but the complex components, low solubility and
stability are their major disadvantages. The modified vegetable oil is a vegetable oil
that forms methyl ester by chemical or enzymatic interesterification. The advantage
of modified vegetable oils is the enhanced safety and dissolution performance, and
its synergetic effect on most agrochemicals. The disadvantage of modified vegetable
oils is the complexity of their composition. For example, poor stability due to the
nature of vegetable oil species; high condensation point due to methyl esterification
or methylation of vegetable oil. Plant essential oils are a kind of volatile oily liquid produced from secondary metabolite of plants. Most of them are photo-reactive.
Plant essential oils have excellent biological activity, excellent solubility, and high
safety.