Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction of Amoxicillin Using Miniaturization Technology

Abstract

Antibiotics discharged with medical waste have had a negative impact on humans as well as aquatic organisms. Because of the severity of its effects and the frequency with which it appears in medical effluent, extraction has become obligatory. Conducting mass transfer operations in microchannels is a promising technology that has several benefits over traditional methods. In this study, the potential of performing two-phase aqueous extraction of amoxicillin in a microchannel setup was investigated. To fully comprehend the process, it was necessary to study the system's hydrodynamics and consider the variables that had the greatest influence on the extraction in the microchannel. In the hydrodynamics part, the inlet junction showed an insignificant effect on the flow pattern type while the flow rate and volume fraction had a major effect. The plug flow zone was chosen for the microchannel extraction based on its high surface area and ease of separation. Aqueous two-phase system extraction (ATPS) was conducted in a microchannel to extract amoxicillin from the aqueous phase. Three process parameters were investigated, namely temperature, salt concentration, and volume fraction, which showed a direct proportionality influence on extraction efficiency. The optimum operation conditions obtained were found to be, a temperature of 44.3 °C, a salt concentration of 42.6 wt.%, and a volume fraction of 0.45. This was accomplished in 1.96 min as compared to the 540 min reported for the conventional ATPS.