Effect of Nanoparticle Additives on Partitioning of Cephalexin in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems Containing Poly(ethylene glycol) and Organic Salts

Abstract

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.

Partitioning of water‐soluble vitamins in biodegradable aqueous two‐phase systems: Electrolyte perturbed‐chain statistical associating fluid theory predictions and experimental validation

“…[6][7][8] These environmentally friendly ATPS have been already considered for the separation of biomolecules such as antibiotics, DNP-amino acids, among others. [9][10][11][12][13] Presence of organic salt and high content of water in such ATPS are advantageous. However, due to many dependencies of the partitioning behavior, understanding the phenomena which rule the partitioning in these complex systems requires much more effort (e.g., data) than in conventional separation systems.…”

“…A better alternative are biodegradable ATPS composed of nontoxic components, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) and organic salts, for example, citrates or tartrates 6‐8 . These environmentally friendly ATPS have been already considered for the separation of biomolecules such as antibiotics, DNP‐amino acids, among others 9‐13 . Presence of organic salt and high content of water in such ATPS are advantageous.…”

Increase of vanillin partitioning using aqueous two phase system with promising nanoparticles

“…Recently, a convenient novel approach has been proposed, which includes adding the nanoparticles as well as their significant capacity in the development of the partitioning of biomolecules in ATPSs 4–6 . In this method, it is assumed that the spontaneous partitioning of nanoparticles in ATPSs, in which the nanoparticles act as an absorbent, so that it causes the biomolecule to be transferred to one of the phases 6 . In this case, the main focus is on the binding of the nanoparticle to the target biomolecule.…”

“…It is believed that these functionalized CNTs are suitable candidates to improve the partition coefficient of biomolecules in ATPSs 16–19 . To the best of our knowledge, the potential of using nanoparticles to achieve an increase in the partitioning of biomolecules has been studied by a small number of researchers 4–6 . To give some examples, the effect of gold nanoparticles on the partitioning of horseradish peroxidase in an ATPS containing polymer and dextran has been investigated by Keating et al .…”

“…5 ; also, the way graphene nanoparticles, graphene oxide, titanium dioxide, and alumina impact on the partitioning of cephalexin antibiotic in an ATPS of polymer and salt has been the subject of a study carried out by Afzal et al . 6 . In order to consider the efficiency of the functionalized CNT based ATPSs, vanillin was selected as a prevalent flavor.…”