Despite its high chemical value, most of lignin is nowadays burnt as low value fuel. It is therefore important to find innovative applications for its use. Copper compounds are used as plant protection products for more than 50 different diseases in viticulture, arable crops, hops, and horticulture, and they have been used for more than 100 years. Minimization of copper in agriculture has become a fundamental issue due to its negative environmental impact. Here we present a series of hybrid organic–inorganic materials (lignin@Cu), deriving from the combination of lignin with brochantite, Cu₄(OH)₆SO₄. Optimization of the synthetic procedures has allowed us to isolate lignin-based materials containing different percentages of copper, where the brochantite crystals are featured by different morphologies and dimensions. A more environmentally safe synthesis of lignin@Cu materials by mechanochemistry is also investigated, which reduces the amount of water used and makes easier and faster the isolation of the final materials. Tests on strawberry and tomato plants in a greenhouse have highlighted a significative efficacy of the lignin@Cu materials against different pathogens at a copper content much lower than the one of copper-based commercial pesticides. A crystal morphology–activity correlation is also traced out. The synergic activity of lignin and copper ions can be used to reduce the copper content for efficient pathogen control. Moreover, the mechanochemical approach ensures a greener synthetic approach, in a perspective of a more sustainable agriculture.

中文翻译：

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使农业更具可持续性：木质素@铜农药合成的环境友好方法

尽管其具有很高的化学价值，但如今大多数木质素已作为低价值燃料燃烧。因此，重要的是找到创新的应用来使用。铜化合物被用作植物保护产品，用于葡萄栽培，可耕作物，啤酒花和园艺中的50多种不同疾病，并且已经使用了100多年。由于其对环境的不利影响，使农业中的铜减至最少已成为一个基本问题。在这里，我们介绍了一系列木质-无机杂化材料（lignin @ Cu），其源自木质素与褐铁矿，Cu ₄（OH）₆ SO _{4的组合。}。合成程序的优化使我们能够分离出含有不同百分比铜的木质素基材料，其中的褐铁矿晶体具有不同的形态和尺寸。还研究了通过机械化学方法在环境上更安全地合成木质素@铜材料，这减少了水的使用量，并使最终材料的分离更加容易和快捷。在温室中的草莓和番茄植株上进行的测试表明，木质素@铜材料在铜含量远低于铜基商业杀虫剂之一时对不同病原体的显着功效。晶体形态-活性的相关性也可以找到。木质素和铜离子的协同活性可用于减少铜含量，以有效控制病原体。此外，