Microelectrophoresis and inverse gas chromatography as tools to study the surface interactions between a fluorinated fungicide and raw or organically modified Patagonian montmorillonite.

The importance of fungicides uses to maintain healthy crops and reliable, high-quality yields poses environmental issues due to the water and soil contaminations. The montmorillonite is known as efficient adsorbent for many pesticides, while the organo modification enabled to use them in wider range of applications. In this study, the fungicide fludioxonil (FDX) was adsorbed on raw and organo-modified Patagonian montmorillonite. The effects of the organo treatment as well as the FDX adsorption on the surface properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, microelectrophoresis and inverse gas chromatography. The importance of the organo treatment was revealed both for the changes in the surface properties (dispersive component of the surface energy, nanoroughness and surface acidity as well as zeta-potential) and for the adsorption of FDX as it enabled increase two times respect to the pristine montmorillonite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]