Topical administration of drugs is required for the treatment of parasitic diseases and insect infestations; therefore, fabrication of nanoscale drug carriers for effective insecticide topical delivery is needed. Here we report the enhanced immobilization of halloysite tubule nanoclay onto semiaquatic capybaras which have hydrophobic hair surfaces as compared to their close relatives, land-dwelling guinea pigs, and other agricultural livestock. The hair surface of mammals varies in hydrophobicity having a cortex surrounded by cuticles. Spontaneous 1–2 µm thick halloysite hair coverages on the semi-aquatic rodent capybara, non-aquatic rodent guinea pig, and farm goats were compared. The best coating was found for capybara due to the elevated 5 wt% wax content. As a result, we suggest hair pretreatment with diluted wax for enhanced nanoclay adsorption. The formation of a stable goat hair coverage with a 2–3 µm halloysite layer loaded with permethrin insecticide allowed for long-lasting anti-parasitic protection, enduring multiple rain wettings and washings. We expect that our technology will find applications in animal parasitosis protection and may be extended to prolonged human anti-lice treatment.

中文翻译：

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粘土纳米管固定在动物毛发上用于持续防虱保护

治疗寄生虫病和虫害需要局部用药；因此，需要制造用于有效杀虫剂局部递送的纳米级药物载体。在这里，我们报告了埃洛石小管纳米粘土在半水生水豚上的增强固定，与它们的近亲、陆栖豚鼠和其他农业牲畜相比，水豚具有疏水的毛发表面。哺乳动物的毛发表面 具有被角质层包围的皮质的疏水性不同。比较了半水生啮齿动物水豚、非水生啮齿动物豚鼠和农场山羊上自发的 1–2 µm 厚埃洛石毛发覆盖物。由于蜡含量增加了 5%（重量），因此发现了水豚的最佳涂层。因此，我们建议用稀释的蜡对头发进行预处理，以增强纳米粘土的吸附。形成稳定的山羊毛覆盖层和 2–3 µm 埃洛石层，其中含有氯菊酯杀虫剂，可提供持久的抗寄生虫保护，经得起多次雨水润湿和洗涤。我们预计我们的技术将应用于动物寄生虫病保护，并可能扩展到长期的人类抗虱治疗。