Porous Silica Nanocarriers: Advances in Structural Orientation and Modification to Develop Sustainable Pesticide Delivery Systems

In precision agriculture, nanotechnology has made significant contributions to the development of a smart cropping system through the support of unique properties of nanomaterials. Of the various nanomaterials, porous nanomaterials have an outstanding performance in building a sustainable delivery system for agrochemicals. In pesticide delivery, amorphous porous silica nanomaterials are considered as some of the most suitable options because of their easy synthesis processes, nontoxic nature, structural variation, tunable porous structure, physical and chemical stability, and ease of surface functionality. So far, multiple roles of these materials have been discussed in the literature; however, the influence of porous structure and structural variations toward developing a sustainable delivery system was not clear. A comprehensive review of the compatibility among the porous silica nanocarriers and pesticide molecules is also lacking. Thus, this review discusses the progress of porous amorphous silica nanomaterial synthesis, their structural variation, and surface modification for effective delivery of different pesticides to explore their potential as carriers.