EVALUATION OF KINETIC CONSTANTS AND TRANSPORT EFFICIENCIES AT MEMBRANE INTERFACES TO OPTIMIZE Co(II) RECOVERY BY BULK LIQUID MEMBRANES

The harms of heavy metals to the environment and public health joined to their character of valuable resource, have lead to an increasing interest in the search of efficient processes for their removal/recovery. In this paper we study the optimization of cobalt(II) recovery by bulk liquid membranes through a carrier facilitated counter transport mechanism, using DP8R as carrier and H2SO4 as stripping agent (protons as counter-ions), by analyzing the influence of different operational parameters (carrier concentration in the membrane, stripping agent concentration in the product phase, stirring rate and organic phase volume) on both the extraction/stripping kinetic constants and the Co(II) transport efficiencies through the feed/membrane and the membrane/product interfaces.