In
this work, the ability of four nanoparticles including Al2O3, TiO2, graphene, and graphene oxide
(GO) as additives for extraction of cephalexin in aqueous two-phase
systems composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and three sodium-based
organic salts was investigated. For this purpose, phase diagrams and
the liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) data for the {PEG 6000
+ sodium citrate, sodium tartrate, sodium succinate + H2O} and partition coefficient for cephalexin were determined. The
addition of 0.001 wt % graphene oxide increased the partition coefficient
by 9% for the {PEG + sodium citrate + water} system, while other nanoparticles
had no effect or decreased the partition coefficient. To investigate
the effect of GO concentration on the partition coefficient, various
concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.04 wt % was examined. It is
observed that at a GO concentration equal to 0.01 wt %, the maximum
partition coefficient improvement is achievable to be 59%. The highest
partition coefficient 5.74 was obtained for the system {PEG6000 19
wt %, sodium citrate 10 wt %, and GO 0.01 wt %}. It can be concluded
that a trace amount of nanoparticles can change the partition coefficient
either by increasing or decreasing. It seems that the concentration
of nanoparticle also has a significant effect on the partition coefficient.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.