Adsorption of heavy rare earth(III) with extraction resin containing bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) monothiophosphinic acid

Abstract

In the present paper, the adsorption of thulium(III) from chloride medium on an extraction resin containing bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) monothiophosphinic acid (CL302, HL) has been studied. The results show that 1.5 h is enough for the adsorption equilibrium. The distribution coefficients are determined as a function of the acidity of the aqueous phase and the data are analyzed both graphically and numerically. The plots of log D versus pH give a straight line with a slope of about 3, indicating that 3 protons are released in the adsorption reaction of thulium(III). The content of Cyanex302 in the resin is determined to be 48.21%. The total amount of Tm 3+ adsorbed up to resin saturation is determined to be 82.46 mg Tm 3+/g resin. Therefore, the sorption reactions of Tm 3+ from chloride medium with CL302 can be described as: Tm 3++3 HL ( r) ↔ TmL 3( r) +3 H + The Freundlich’s isothermal adsorption equation is also determined as: log Q=0.73 log C+3.05 The amounts ( Q) of Tm 3+ adsorbed with the resin have been studied at different temperatures (15–40 °C) at fixed concentrations of Tm 3+, amounts of extraction resin, ion strength and acidities in the aqueous phase. The thermodynamic quantities, i.e., Δ G, Δ H and Δ S can thus be determined. In addition, the adsorption of gadolinium(III), terbium(III), dysprosium(III), holmium(III), erbium(III) using the extraction resin has also been investigated and compared with the result of thulium(III). The efficiency of the resin in the separation of the metal ions is provided according to the separation factors.