ABSTRACT Herbicides are indispensable for safeguarding global crop production, yet their effectiveness is often undermined by extensive environmental losses during application. Using herbicide Diuron as a model compound, we developed hierarchical nanoparticles constructed through host–guest molecular recognition followed by electrostatic coassembly, yielding a formulation that unites high delivery efficiency with enhanced environmental compatibility. Relative to conventional wettable powders, these nanoparticles exhibited temperature‐responsive release behavior and significantly enhanced foliar adhesion and deposition, increasing leaf retention by more than 241.7%. They also demonstrated strong resistance to rainfall wash‐off and a markedly reduced propensity for groundwater leaching, with leaching losses decreased by approximately 18.6%. Greenhouse and field evaluations further confirmed their superior weed control under practical conditions, achieving control efficacies of up to 70.1% against Abutilon theophrasti and 52.9% against Setaria faberi , compared with 53.7% and 39.1%, respectively, for the commercial formulation at the same application rate. Extensive ecotoxicological assessments encompassing seed germination, zebrafish and earthworm assays, in vitro cellular tests, and in vivo rat studies consistently revealed an improved safety profile compared with commercial and technical formulations. Together, these results highlight hierarchical self‐assembled nanoparticles as a promising platform for next‐generation herbicide delivery that combines high target utilization with lower environmental impact and greater sustainability.
Xiao et al. (Sun,) studied this question.