Transport of Pb(II) through bulk liquid membrane containing tri-n-butyl phosphate as a carrier

Abstract

Lead contamination of industrial effluents and wastewaters is a significant environmental problem. This study was carried out to remove and recover lead from aqueous solution using bulk liquid membrane. The effects of several parameters including carrier concentration (2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 and12.5%), pH of the feed phase (2, 3, 4, 5 and6.5), pH of the strip phase (2, 3, 4, 5, 6.5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and12), lead concentration (25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ppm), volume ratio (S:F) of (1:1), (1:2) and (2:1) and EDTA concentration (0.001, 0.01 and0.1M) on the performance of the bulk liquid membrane were studied to find out optimum working conditions. The highest efficiency of extraction (87%) and stripping (92%) were achieved for 100 ppm initial concentration of Pb2+, 12.5% (v/v) carrier concentration, pH 5 of the feed phase, pH 2 of the strip phase, 0.1 M of EDTA and volume ratio (S:F) (1:2). The kinetics of Pb2+ transport through a bulk liquid membrane was investigated. This study proved that bulk liquid membrane is effective technique to remove lead from aqueous solutions