Study of lincomycin partition in a recyclable thermo-pH responsive aqueous two-phase system.

[Display omitted] • Recyclable aqueous two-phase systems were constructed using EO 30 PO 70 and P ADB5.22. • Phase formation mechanism have been studied using Low-field NMR. • Lincomycin was better partitioned with partition coefficient of 5.94. • The recoveries of EO 30 PO 70 and P ADB5.22 reached 95.51 % and 96.18 %, respectively. Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have been widely used in the laboratory separation and purification of antibiotics. However, its large-scale application is limited due to the difficulty in the recovery of the phase-forming polymers. In this study, we aimed to develop a thermo-pH responsive recyclable ATPS using thermo-responsive polymer EO 30 PO 70 and pH-responsive polymer P ADB5.22 for lincomycin partition. This ATPS can rapidly form two-phase interface in less than 5 min and can sustainably be reused. The phase separation mechanism was studied by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) and surface tension. The effects of polymer concentration, lincomycin content, pH, temperature and salts type and concentrations on lincomycin partition were investigated. The 25 % (w/v) EO 30 PO 70 /4.5 % (w/v) P ADB5.22 ATPS showed good partitioning at room temperature for lincomycin fermentation broth in the presence of 80 mM LiCl at pH 9.1, with a partition coefficient of 5.94 and extraction recovery of 94.68 %. In addition, the recycling of the two polymers showed a high efficiency, with 95.51 % and 96.18 % recoveries of EO 30 PO 70 and P ADB5.22 after four cycles, respectively. This recyclable ATPS has a promising industrial application in the separation and purification of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]