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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Antibacterial emulsion based on methyl cellulose and lavender essential oil: Rheology and drug release kinetics

Gözde Bayer1 ,  Amirreza Shayganpour2 ,  Ilker S. Bayer3*
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1 Gempa Electromechanical Engineering Ltd. Co., Çankaya, Ankara, Türkiye
2 Smart Materials, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Liguria, Italy
3 I2Pure Corporation, Ashburn, Virginia, United States of America
IMO, 026220029 https://doi.org/10.36922/IMO026220029
Received: 27 May 2026 | Revised: 20 June 2026 | Accepted: 22 June 2026 | Published online: 30 July 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Topical antibacterial emulsions require optimized formulation strategies to maximize drug release, bioavailability, and antimicrobial efficacy while maintaining desirable rheological properties. This study presents the formulation and characterization of an antibacterial emulsion comprising methyl cellulose, triacetin, triethyl citrate, and a synergistic blend of benzyl alcohol, phenylethanol, and lavender essential oil, designed for topical drug delivery. Emulsions were prepared by shear mixing and ultrasonic processing and evaluated for rheological behavior, essential oil release kinetics, and antimicrobial efficacy. Mechanical mixing physically disrupts macromolecular matrix entanglements, accelerating the dispersion of essential oils and significantly enhancing active terpene bioavailability, thereby driving rapid bactericidal kinetics. Viscoelastic and shear-thinning properties were modeled using Maxwell, Cross, and Herschel–Bulkley frameworks incorporating thixotropic considerations, revealing a yield stress of 8 Pa and strong structural recovery behavior. Ultraviolet–Visible spectrophotometry-based drug release studies demonstrated that shear mixing significantly enhanced essential oil release rates, with the Weibull model providing the best fit to the release profiles. Antibacterial testing against Escherichia coli and ten genetically diverse strains of lactic acid bacteria showed that aromatic alcohol-containing formulations significantly reduced minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration values, confirming synergistic antibacterial action. Optical density monitoring and bacterial viability modeling revealed substantially improved bactericidal activity under mixing conditions, attributed to enhanced dispersion and bioavailability of the essential oil. These results demonstrate that the formulation method plays a decisive role in both physical and antimicrobial performance, supporting the potential of these emulsions for treating skin infections and limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Antibacterial
Emulsion
Essential oil
Methyl cellulose
Drug release
Viscoelasticity
Funding
This study is supported by Gempa Electromechanical Engineering Ltd. Co.
Conflict of interest
Gözde Bayer is an employee of Gempa Electromechanical Engineering Ltd. Co., which provided funding for this study. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
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