Solubility of thymol in supercritical carbon dioxide and its impregnation on cotton gauze

Abstract Through this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the solubility of thymol in supercritical carbon dioxide as well to investigate a prospect of its impregnation on cotton gauze on laboratory scale. Solubility of thymol in supercritical carbon dioxide was determined at temperatures of 35 °C, 40 °C and 50 °C, and pressures ranging from 7.8 to 25 MPa (CO 2 density range 335.89–849.60 kg/m 3 ) using a static method. The solubility data were correlated using semi-empirical equations introduced by Chrastil, Adachi and Lu and del Valle and Aguilera. Taking into account obtained results, temperature of 35 °C and pressure of 15.5 MPa were selected as operating conditions for the impregnation process. Impregnation of cotton gauze with thymol was performed in a cell using carbon dioxide as a solvent. Kinetics of the process was determined and modeled. Masses of thymol on cotton gauzes after 2 h and 24 h of impregnation were 11% and 19.6%, respectively. FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of thymol on the surface of the cotton fibers. The impregnated gauze provided strong antimicrobial activity against tested strains of Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans.

[1]  F. Al-Bayati,et al.  Isolation and identification of antibacterial compounds from Thymus kotschyanus aerial parts and Dianthus caryophyllus flower buds. , 2009, Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology.

[2]  S. Cosentino,et al.  In‐vitro antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of Sardinian Thymus essential oils , 1999, Letters in applied microbiology.

[3]  Hartwig Schulz,et al.  Characterisation of essential oil plants from Turkey by IR and Raman spectroscopy , 2005 .

[4]  M. Sundrarajan,et al.  Inclusion of antibacterial agent thymol on β-cyclodextrin-grafted organic cotton , 2012 .

[5]  P. Russo,et al.  Design and production of gentamicin/dextrans microparticles by supercritical assisted atomisation for the treatment of wound bacterial infections. , 2013, International journal of pharmaceutics.

[6]  M. Mukhopadhyay,et al.  Fluid phase behavior of close molecular weight fine chemicals with supercritical carbon dioxide , 1995 .

[7]  I. J. Seabra,et al.  Development of natural-based wound dressings impregnated with bioactive compounds and using supercritical carbon dioxide. , 2011, International journal of pharmaceutics.

[8]  D. E. Knox.  Solubilities in supercritical fluids , 2005 .

[9]  S. Wanichwecharungruang,et al.  Thymol nanospheres as an effective anti-bacterial agent. , 2012, International journal of pharmaceutics.

[10]  Chinkap Chung,et al.  Characterization of cotton fabric scouring by FT-IR ATR spectroscopy , 2004 .

[11]  Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Dadfar,et al.  Mechanical, physical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of gelatin films incorporated with thymol for potential use as nano wound dressing. , 2013, Journal of food science.

[12]  L. Guerrini,et al.  Electrospinning and characterization of polyamide 66 nanofibers with different molecular weights , 2009 .

[13]  Setsuko Yonezawa,et al.  Modification of the surface of cotton with supercritical carbon dioxide and water to support nanoparticles , 2012 .

[14]  J Xu,et al.  The antibacterial mechanism of carvacrol and thymol against Escherichia coli , 2008, Letters in applied microbiology.

[15]  Y. Yamini,et al.  Measurement and correlation of the solubility of two steroid drugs in supercritical carbon dioxide using semi empirical models , 2013 .

[16]  G. Socrates,et al.  Infrared and Raman characteristic group frequencies : tables and charts , 2001 .

[17]  Czesława Paluszkiewicz,et al.  FT-IR and FT-Raman study of hydrothermally degradated cellulose , 2001 .

[18]  L. Griensven,et al.  Antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their components against the three major pathogens of the cultivated button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus , 2006, European Journal of Plant Pathology.

[19]  B. Lu,et al.  Supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide and ethylene , 1983 .

[20]  Dong Il Yoo,et al.  FTIR analysis of cellulose treated with sodium hydroxide and carbon dioxide. , 2005, Carbohydrate research.

[21]  V. Popa,et al.  AMORPHOUS CELLULOSE - STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERIZATION , 2011 .

[22]  A. Concheiro,et al.  Wound dressings loaded with an anti-inflammatory jucá (Libidibia ferrea) extract using supercritical carbon dioxide technology , 2013 .

[23]  G. Flamini,et al.  Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant staphylococci to oregano essential oil, carvacrol and thymol. , 2004, FEMS microbiology letters.

[24]  B. C. Scott,et al.  Antioxidant actions of thymol, carvacrol, 6-gingerol, zingerone and hydroxytyrosol. , 1994, Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association.

[25]  I. Zizović,et al.  Development of polycaprolactone scaffold with antibacterial activity by an integrated supercritical extraction and impregnation process , 2013 .

[26]  Joaquim M. S. Cabral,et al.  Supercritical CO2 generating chitosan devices with controlled morphology. Potential application for drug delivery and mesenchymal stem cell culture , 2009 .

[27]  J. Chrastil,et al.  Solubility of solids and liquids in supercritical gases , 1982 .

[28]  J. Jez,et al.  Solubility of Menthol in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide , 1994 .

[29]  M. Chairat,et al.  Adsorption kinetic study of lac dyeing on cotton , 2008 .

[30]  José Miguel Aguilera,et al.  An improved equation for predicting the solubility of vegetable oils in supercritical carbon dioxide , 1988 .

[31]  T. Michalska,et al.  The effect of thymol and its derivatives on reactions generating reactive oxygen species. , 2000, Chemosphere.

[32]  Jeferson S. Santos,et al.  Anti-inflammatory and cicatrizing activities of thymol, a monoterpene of the essential oil from Lippia gracilis, in rodents. , 2012, Journal of ethnopharmacology.