Green nanoemulsion (water/ethanol/triton X100/capmul MCM C8) to remove ciprofloxacin from a bulk aqueous solution

Abstract Green nanoemulsions (NE) composed of water/ethanol/triton X100/capmul MCM C8 (CMC8) were prepared to eliminate ciprofloxacin (CIP) from an aqueous system. These NE were prepared by titration process followed by constructing various phase diagrams. From them, five NE1-NE5 were identified as the most optimum for the purpose. These five were evaluated for globule size, size distribution (polydispersity index, PDI), viscosity, zeta potential and refractive index (RI) and thermodynamic stability. Percent removal efficiency (% RE) studies of NE1-NE5 formulations were studied at 10 min, 15 min, and 30 min. Compositions were selected due to maximum solubility of CIP and NE1-NE5 were identified with the maximum area delineated in pseudo ternary phase diagrams. The optimized and selected NE5 exhibited the lowest globule size (41 ± 3 nm), least PDI (0.12), optimal zeta potential (−22.9 mV), and the highest value of % RE (∼95%). The robust NE5 revealed optimum viscosity (98.8 ± 2.5 cP) and spherical globular shape (fold error = 1.35) distributed homogeneously throughout the bulk. There was significant impact of water and CMC8 contents on the viscosity (η), size and RI. The %RE (liquid-liquid adsorption efficiency) of CIP from an aqueous bulk solution was significantly affected with the concentration of CMC8 and water content, viscosity, and size of CNE. UV scanning and IR studies confirmed absence of CIP in treated water. Hence, results dictated that NE5 can be a suitable approach to remove CIP from aquatic system contaminated through several effluent sources.