Optimisation of ciprofloxacin removal by using polymer inclusion membrane and its multivariate analysis with half‐fractional factorial design

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In this study, the use of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) to attenuate the recalcitrant contaminant of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in an aquatic system is presented. Poly(vinyl)chloride (PVC) was used as the base polymer, bis−2-(Ethylhexyl) phosphate (B2EHP) as the carrier, and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) as the plasticizer. Optimisation of the experiment was conducted using multivariate analysis of half-fractional factorial design, focusing on parameters like pH of the source solution, the source solution's concentration, carrier composition, the concentration of the receiving solution, and extraction time.RESULTS: It was found that PIMs with the composition of PVC 45%: B2EHP 25%: DOP 30% were the best suited for this purpose. The optimal removal efficiency of CIP was >99% at pH 6, 90% at pH 12, and 85% removal at neutral pH (7). After various optimisation steps, the method was applied to actual environmental wastewater and river samples with an average percentage removal efficiency of >97%.CONCLUSION: This study has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using PIMs for the removal of CIP antibiotics. Hence, it may be considered a practical treatment approach for other pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic system.

The Application of Polymer Inclusion Membranes for the Removal of Emerging Contaminants and Synthetic Dyes from Aqueous Solutions—A Mini Review

“…The authors concluded that the formulated PIMs with B2EHP can be potentially considered a suitable alternative for the removal of CIP from the aquatic environment [ 44 ]. In turn, Olasupo et al [ 45 ] applied PIMs containing PVC as the base polymer, B2EHP as the carrier, and DOP as the plasticizer for the removal of ciprofloxacin from the aquatic system and optimized the experimental conditions (i.e., pH of the source solution, source solution concentration, carrier concentration, the concentration of the receiving solution, and extraction time) using multivariate analysis of half-fractional factorial design. They reported that PIMs with the composition of PVC 45%: B2EHP 25%: DOP 30% allowed for almost complete removal of CIP, wherein removal efficiency strongly depended on pH (>99% at pH = 6, 90% at pH = 12, and 85% at pH = 7).…”