A controlled
pesticide delivery system has attracted considerable
attention in recent years. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs),
which are one of the most rapidly developing porous materials, have
been used as pesticide carriers. However, the inherent toxicity of
reported metal nodes or the expensiveness of organic ligands is not
desirable, which limits the practical application of such pesticide-loaded
MOF delivery systems. γ-Cyclodextrin-based MOFs (γ-CD–MOFs)
are considered as a green renewable framework material; however, it
has been less exploited as a multifunctional pesticide carrier in
agricultural applications. In this study, avermectins (AVM) were loaded
into γ-CD–MOFs (AVM−γ-CD–MOFs) with
a loading content of 20.41% by physical absorption. AVM−γ-CD–MOFs
exhibited pH-responsive release profiles and had better stability
under photoirradiation. Moreover, it could promote the growth of cotton
roots and stems, improve the chlorophyll content, and decrease malondialdehyde
content to a certain extent by facilitating the activities of peroxidase.
Compared with AVM technical concentrate wettable powder, the AVM−γ-CD–MOF
wettable powder exhibited a better acaricidal activity against Panonychus citri (McGregor). In short, this research
explores the feasibility of γ-CD–MOFs as a platform for
potential application in sustainable plant protection.