Separation of copper and zinc ions by hollow fiber supported liquid membrane containing LIX84 and PC-88A

Abstract

The separation of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in mixed solutions of zinc and copper sulfate has been studied using hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM). The extradants for Cu2+ and Zn2+ were LIX84(anti-2-hydroxy-5-nonyl acetophenoneoxime) and PC-88A(2-ethyl- hexylphosphonic acid mono-2 ethylhexyl ester) which were diluted in kerosene, respectively. The effects of operational variables on the permeation rate and the separation factor of Cu2+ and Zn2+ were investigated. At metal concentrations in the feed solution between 1 to 200 mol·m -3 under pH 2.0, the permeation rate of Cu2+ by 10 mass% LIX84 HFSLM was 1 × 10-6∼5 × 10 -6mol·m-2·s-1 while that of Zn2+ with PC-88A was 10-6∼10-5 mol·m-2·s-1. By total recycle operation, copper sulfate solution with 99.6% purity and 99.9% pure zinc sulfate solution could be enriched from the dilute solution in which the concentrations of both Cu2- and Zn2+ were 1 g/L, respectively.