Transportation and extraction of Cu2+ metal ions from acidic solution by MDLM technique

Abstract

In this study, the extraction of Cu2+ ions was carried out by the MDLM system, which is one of the bulky membrane techniques. The MDLM technique was used to investigate the transport of Cu2+ ions from an aqueous donor phase to an organic phase, and then from an organic phase back to an aqueous acceptor phase. D2EHPA dissolved in kerosene was used as a carrier. Determination concentration of Cu2+ metal ions in the donor and acceptor phases in the MDLM system was analysed using UV-vis spectrophotometer. The effects of the membrane's flow velocity, stripping solution concentration, and temperature on the transport of Cu2+ have been investigated, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the transport percentage of Cu2+ was up to >99% during the transport time of 200 min when the initial concentration of Cu2+ was 280-300 mgL−1. Kinetic parameters have also been calculated in order to identify the phenomena of extraction. The activation energy was calculated as 2.92 kcalmol−1, which indicates that the extraction process for Cu2+ ions is controlled by diffusion. Experiments have shown that D2EHPA ligand dissolved in kerosene is a good carrier for the transport and extraction of Cu2+ metal ions using the MDLM technique in the study.