Non-Dispersive Extraction of Ge(IV) from Aqueous Solutions by Cyanex 923: Transport and Modeling Studies

Transport process of germanium from an aqueous solution containing oxalic acid and 100 mg/L Ge was studied. Cyanex 923 immobilized in a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane was employed as a carrier in a flat-sheet supported liquid membrane (FSSLM) system. The speciation of the germanium ion in the oxalic acid medium and related diagrams were applied to study the transport of germanium. The effective parameters such as oxalic acid, carrier concentration, and strip reagent composition were evaluated in this study. Based on the experimental data, the oxalic acid and carrier concentrations of 0.075 mol/L and 20% v/v were the condition in which the efficient germanium transport was achieved, respectively. The concentration range of 0.04–0.1 mol/L was selected for sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a strip reagent providing the best efficiency to transport germanium through the supported liquid membrane (SLM) system. Furthermore, the permeation model was obtained to calculate the mass transfer resistance of the membrane (?m) and feed (?f) phases. According to the results, the values of 1 and 1345 s/cm were found for ?m and ?f, respectively