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.