ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Separation of Ni²⁺ from ammonia solution through a supported liquid membrane impregnated with Acorga M5640

Hengpan Duan, Xiaohong Yuan, Qin Zhang, Ziyue Wang, Zhangjie Huang, Hong Guo, and Xiangjun Yang

School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China

E-mail: yxjun@ynu.edu.cn

Abstract: Separation of Ni²⁺ from ammonia/ammonium chloride solution using a flat-sheet supported liquid membrane (SLM) impregnated with Acorga M5640 in kerosene was investigated. The fundamental experimental variables influencing Ni²⁺ transport, such as ammonia concentration, carrier concentration, H₂SO₄ concentration in the stripping solution, stirring speed, and initial Ni²⁺ concentration were studied. Almost all of Ni²⁺ was transported from the feed to the stripping phase after 18 h of operation with a permeability coefficient of 9.28 × 10⁻⁶ m s⁻¹ under optimum conditions: stirring speed of 1000 rpm in both phases, 20 vol.% Acorga M5640 as the carrier, 1.70 mmol L⁻¹ Ni²⁺ in the feed phase and 0.10 mol L⁻¹ H₂SO₄ in the stripping phase. The flux value of Ni²⁺ was 15.82 × 10⁻⁶ mol m⁻² s⁻¹. Additionally, the influences of temperature and ultrasound on flux were examined, and results indicated that higher temperature and ultrasonic assistance improved transport of Ni²⁺ through the SLM. Selective separation of nickel from cobalt in an ammonia/ammonium chloride solution was also achieved through SLM. The stability of the SLM was examined on a continuous run mode and satisfactory stability of the nickel permeation was observed for 84 h (7 runs).

Keywords: Supported liquid membrane; Ni²⁺; Ammonia solution; Acorga M5640

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-016-0041-3

Chemical Papers 71 (3) 597–606 (2017)