Abstract—This work aimed to investigate the simultaneous extraction and stripping of Cu(II) from aqueous solutions through a soybean oil-based bulk liquid membrane (BLM). The membrane phase used was soybean oil (diluent) loaded with di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid (carrier) and tributyl phosphate (phase modifier), whereas the stripping phase was sulphuricacid (H2SO4) at various concentrations. Effects of stirring condition, strip to feed interface area (S:F) ratio, H2SO4 concentration and operating time on Cu(II) extraction and stripping through soybean oil-based BLM were investigated. It was found that stirring affected the extraction process significantly but showed relatively smaller effect on the stripping process. The other parameters such as S:F ratio,H2SO4 concentration and operating time, however, were found to control the stripping process more than the extraction process. The highest extraction (98%) and stripping (86%) were achieved by using soybean oil-based BLM with four stirrings for all phases, S:F ratio of 2.5:1 and 3 M H2SO4 as the stripping phase within 24 h of operating time. Application of soybeanoil-based BLM in real industrial wastewater was also investigated.

Index Terms—Bulk liquid membrane, Cu (II), di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid, extraction, soybean oil, stripping.

Siu Hua Chang is with the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia, Permatang Pauh, Penang, Malaysia (e-mail: siuhua@ hotmail.my).
Tjoon Tow Teng and Norli Ismail are with the School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. (e-mail: ttteng@usm.my; norlii@usm.my)

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Cite: Siu Hua Chang, Tjoon Tow Teng and Norli Ismail, "Soybean Oil-Based Bulk Liquid Membrane for Simultaneous Extraction and Stripping of Cu (II) from Aqueous Solutions," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 389-393, 2011.