Comparative study of adsorptive role of carbonaceous materials in removal of UV-active impurities of paclitaxel extracts

Graphite oxide （GO） and reduced graphene oxide （rGO） nanosheets were synthesized with a low-cost manufacturing method. The morphology and structures of the synthesized samples were studied using X-ray diffraction （XRD）, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, Fourier-transform infrared （FTIR） and Raman spectroscopy. The efficiencies of GO and rGO as novel candidate adsorbents in the pre-purification of paclitaxel were compared and contrasted with those of commercial graphite （Gt）, graphene （G） and multi-wall carbon nanotube （MWCNT）. According to UV-vis and HPLC analyses, rGO was evaluated as the best absorbent for the removal of impurities in pre-purification of paclitaxel from plant cell cultures. In contrast, the GO had the poorest proficiency for paclitaxel pre-purification in comparison with the other carbonaceous adsorbents. This is attributed to the existence of many localized defects in the π-π structure of GO that is related to weakness of π-π stacking interactions between crude extract impurities and GO.