Facilitated Transport of Cd(II) Through a Supported Liquid Membrane with Aliquat 336 as a Carrier

Selective removal of cadmium from wastewaters is very important, because cadmium is toxic for the environment and for human health. This work is a comprehensive study on the selective removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solutions by using a co-current flow flat sheet supported liquid membrane system. 4.4x10-4M Cd(II) concentration was used as a feed solution in the experiments. Toluene containing Aliquat 336 was used as the membrane liquid in the membrane system. Parameters such as the properties of feed and stripping solutions, carrier concentration, and flow rate, which have roles in transport of Cd(II) ions, were optimized. The efficiency of the system is expressed in terms of permeability and flux values, and transport efficiency. The optimum process conditions for the Cd(II) transport are experimentally found as follows: The feed solution as 2M HCl, the carrier concentration as 0.1M Aliquat 336, the stripping solution as 0.06M EDTA, and the flow rates for the feed and stripping solutions as 50mL/min and 80mL/min, respectively. Under these conditions, the Cd(II) transport efficiency is found to be 82%.