Synergistic Effect of MEHPA on Co-Extractionof Zinc and Cadmium with DEHPA

Simultaneous extraction of zinc and cadmium by mix of Di-2-Ethyl Hexyl Phosphoric Acid (DEHPA) and Mono-2-Ethyl Hexyl Phosphoric Acid (MEHPA) and synergistic effect of (MEHPA) on co Extraction of Zinc and cadmium with DEHPA was investigated. It was shown that extraction of zinc and an increase of PH would increase cadmium by DEHPA and/ or MEHPA. The results also illustrate that pH0.5 of zinc by an increase in (MEHPA) from 0.1 to 8 vol% did not vary significantly while that of cadmium differs from 0,63 to 2,4. In other words, MEHPA prevents selective extraction of zinc from aqueous media including both zinc and cadmium. Studies on selective separation parameter ßZn/Cd show that it was reduced 50 to 13 times through an increase in MEHPA from 0.1 to 8.0 vol%.