PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF POLYMER INCLUSION MEMBRANES (PIMs) INCLUDING ALAMINE 336 FOR THE EXTRACTION OF METALS FROM AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract

Polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) present an attractive approach for the separation of metals from an aqueous solution. The present study is about the application of Alamine 336 as an ion carrier in PIMs. The separation of copper (II), cobalt (II), nickel (II) and cadmium (II) from aqueous solutions with polymer inclusion membranes was investigated. PIMs are formed by casting a solution containing a carrier (extractant), a plasticizer and a base polymer, such as cellulose tri-acetate (CTA) or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), to form a thin, flexible and stable film. Several important transport parameters such as the type and amount of the plasticizer, the type of the stripping solution, the thickness of the membrane, the pH of the acid in the donor phase and the concentration of the base in the acceptor phase are discussed. The membrane was characterized to obtain information regarding its composition using AFM, FT-IR and SEM.