Enhancing safety through the biodegradable pesticide microcapsules produced via melt emulsification and interfacial polymerization

[Display omitted] •LC microcapsule preparation excludes solvents and surfactants.•sCNC-based microcapsules degrade via enzymatic or photothermal synergy.•Field trials confirmed LC microencapsulation prolonged pest control duration.•Microencapsulation alleviates skin itching and zebrafish toxicity induced by LC. Pesticides play a crucial role in securing food production, their safety usage remains a pressing concern. Traditional pesticide formulations have been scrutinized for their inefficiency, environmental hazards, and negative impacts on human health. Here, sulfonated cellulose nanocrystals (sCNC) were utilized to stabilize molten lambda-cyhalothrin (LC), forming stable Pickering emulsions via high-pressure homogenization (HPH). This process was followed by the generation of microcapsules through interfacial polymerization, a method that entirely forgoes the use of surfactants and organic solvents. The synthesized microcapsules showcased a size ranging from 250 to 1000 nm, with an impressive LC encapsulation efficiency of up to 99.29 %. These microcapsules maintained excellent stability, prolonging pest control duration in field applications, and exhibited reduced toxicity to zebrafish. A particularly groundbreaking discovery was the ability of microcapsules to mitigate skin irritation, a benefit previously unexplored in LC microencapsulation. Furthermore, these microcapsules demonstrated significant degradation within 14 days post-application, effectively minimizing prolonged pesticide residue on crops. This study highlights the eco-friendly production of microcapsules and their capacity to diminish the negative impacts associated with pesticide application. It paves the way for the wider implementation of encapsulation technologies in pesticides and offers critical insights into the creation of sustainable, safe, and effective pesticide formulations.