Organic electrospun nanofibers as vehicles toward intelligent pheromone dispensers: characterization by laboratory investigations

Organic nanofibers have a history of technical application in various independent fields, including medical technology, filtration technology, and applications of pharmaceuticals via inhalation into the lungs. Very recently, in a joint effort with polymer chemists, agricultural applications have been added to this list of priorities. The aim is finding novel approaches to insect control. Pheromones, dispensed in a quantifiable way, are being used here in disrupting the mating communication between male and female pest insects, e.g. the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), where current dispenser technology does not fully meet the high expectations of growers and environmentalists with respect to longevity of constant release, self decomposition, mechanical distribution, renewability as well as sustainability of resources. The methodology of electrospinning is exhaustively covered by Greiner and Wendorff (2007), with technical details reported by Hellmann et al. (2009), Hein et al. (2011), and Hummel et al. (2010). Wind tunnel studies were run within a tunnel with adjustable laminar flow and 0.5 m/sec air velocity. Mass losses of the electrospun fiber bundles were determined with a sensitive analytical balance 2-3 times per week and recorded as time vs. mass change. CLSA experiments were performed with a self developed glass apparatus (Lindner, 2010) based on various suggestions of previous authors. Microgram quantities of volatile pheromone (E,Z)-7,9-Dodecadienylacetate were absorbed on a filter of rigorously purified charcoal and desorbed by repeated micro extraction with a suitable solvent mixture. Aliquots of the solution were subjected to temperature programmed capillary GLC. Retention times were used for identification, whereas the area covered by the pheromone peak originating from a FID detector signal was integrated and compared with a carefully calibrated standard peak. Since these signals were usually in the low nanogram range, several replications were averaged for statistical improvement. - Thermogravimetric analysis between ambient temperature and 500 degrees C provided a series of degradation curves where the diagram contained information on the evaporation of pheromone alone, polymer fiber alone and pheromone included in the fiber.- Microscopic investigations resulted in pictures of nanofibers from which the overall morphology and the fiber dimensions could be quantified. Organic nanofibers loaded with the grapevine moth pheromone have been well characterized by 5 different lab methods, followed by field bioassays reported elsewhere in these communications volumes (HUMMEL et al., 2011). This comprehensive analytical approach to fiber characterization is new and will be further refined. The federal agency JKI Berlin subjected the pheromone loaded organic fibers to various independent toxicological and ecotoxicological tests and found no adverse side effects.