The effect of graphene oxide and functionalized carbon nanotubes as additives on extraction of doxorubicin by polyethylene glycol 6000 / sodium salts aqueous two-phase systems

Abstract

In this work, the partitioning behavior of Doxorubicin, an antineoplastic drug, has been investigated in the polymer-salt aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs), and the ability of three nanoparticles (NPs) including graphene oxide (GO), functionalized single, and multi-walled carbon nanotube (f-SWCNT and f-MWCNT) as additives for increasing the partition coefficient of the drug was studied. Systems composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and four sodium-based salts containing sulphate, tartrate, citrate, and succinate were chosen to form ATPSs at 300 ± 1 K. Firstly, the partition coefficient and yield recovery of Doxorubicin were investigated in the mentioned ATPSs including 16 different initial compositions. Based on the results, the maximum amount of partition coefficient belongs to a system combined of PEG 6000 + sodium tartrate + water. Then the NPs were added to the best tie-lines of each system to investigate their effects. Results show that all used NPs have improved partitioning of Doxorubicin in the range of 80–4000%. The highest amount of enhancement belongs to the system of PEG 6000 + sodium succinate + water in the presence of f-SWCNT. Consequently, the addition of the mentioned NPs to the ATPSs is proposed as an effective solution for improving the extraction efficiency.