Pre-irradiation of surfactants to enhance their capacity to solubilise drugs and dyes

The present work has used pre-irradiation of surfactants in order to enhance their capacity to solubilize hydrophobic drugs and dyes. Aqueous solution of two pluronic surfactants viz., F-127 and P-123 were subjected to gamma radiation. These irradiated surfactant solutions were used to solubilize five drugs such as ornidazole, tinidazole, ciprofloxacin, aceclofenac, and methylparaben, and two dyes, methyl orange and eosin yellow. Their capacity for enhancing solubilisation was compared with that of unirradiated surfactants. The irradiated surfactant solutions displayed 0.88%–31.9% higher solubilisation compared to unirradiated surfactant solutions. This phenomenon of enhancement in solubility is explained through changes in the physical properties like decreased surface tension and increased hydrodynamic radius in irradiated block polymeric surfactants. Irradiation of surfactants for enhancing their capacity to solubilize hydrophobic chemical entities has been used for the first time.