Greener approach for process intensification of iron haematinics by membrane nanofiltration

Abstract

Iron haematinics are high-volume, low-cost drug products used to treat anaemia. For the preparation of iron haematinics, the manufacturers depend heavily on multipurpose-batch or semi-batch reactors. Here, process intensification of haematinics was carried out using membrane nanofiltration as a major operation. A total of three haematinics namely, iron (III) hydroxide polymaltose, iron gluconate, and iron sucrose complex were prepared, and the process intensified on dead-end filtration set up by using a polymeric membrane. Iron (III) hydroxide polymaltose experimental results were compared with commercially available standard. The membrane performance was characterized by various parameters such as flux, permeability, flux decline ratio, flux recovery ratio, percentage retention, fouling, etc., at different transmembrane pressures. The membrane surface was analysed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to understand its morphology and fouling. The iron concentration was detected in the permeate stream using inductively coupled plasma optical emission (ICP-OES) spectroscopy to detect %retention (>99.99%) under all experimental conditions tested. The study led to optimized conditions for haematinics concentration by a membrane at a 10-bar trans-membrane pressure, which was applied for the preparation of iron gluconate salt. Overall, the study resulted in a green process with increased productivity.