In recent years, aviation spray has been developed rapidly
in plant
protection, and it is common to mix pesticide formulations or fertilizers
before spraying. However, serious instability of the pesticide tank
mixture usually occurs in the process, resulting in loss of effect,
drug damage, and even huge environmental pollution. However, this
has not been studied further by researchers. Here, we evaluated the
stability of the pesticide tank mixture by particle size, ζ
potential, multiple light scattering, etc., and screened out the surfactants
sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium lauryl polyoxyethylene ether
sulfate (AES), and natural polymer xanthan gum (XG) to stabilize the
system. The results indicate that SDS and AES stabilize the pesticide
tank mixture relying on the increase in the electrostatic repulsion
of colloidal particles; XG stabilizes the system due to the increase
in the steric hindrance. The results of multiple light scattering
show that all 2.0 wt % SDS, 2.0 wt % AES, and 0.05 wt % XG decrease
the stability index (SI) of the pesticide tank mixture from 1.44 to
less than 0.71, which significantly improves the stability. Overall,
our results demonstrate the feasibility of using XG as a safer, more
cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to commercial synthetic
compatibility agents.