This is how…
On mysql set your table(s)’s filed(s) to utf8mb4_general_ci
.
codeigniter config/database.php
$db['default']['char_set'] = 'utf8mb4';
$db['default']['dbcollat'] = 'utf8mb4_general_ci';
Resources
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16828197/displaying-utf8-character-on-codeigniter