Influence of inorganic complexes on the transport of trace metals through permeation liquid membrane Original Research Article

Under specific conditions (pH, concentrations), trace metals may form, with environmental inorganic ligands, neutral complexes which, in principle, might diffuse passively through biological membranes or influence the response of (bio)analytical sensors for trace metals based on permeation liquid membrane (PLM). In this study, metal (Cu, Cd, Pb) transport through the planar PLM device was evaluated in the presence of major environmental inorganic ligands such as sulfate, carbonate and chloride under conditions where neutral complexes may be formed (up to 73% of neutral metal complex in the solution). In the presence of sulfate, comparison of predicted and experimental PLM fluxes of Cu, Pb and Cd, suggests that passive transport of neutral sulfate–metal complexes does not occur. This was confirmed by comparing fluxes in the presence and absence of carrier. In the presence of carbonate (for Cd, Cu and Pb) and chloride (for Pb and Cd), however, experimental PLM fluxes were greater than predicted (up to 4 and 25 times in the presence of carbonate and chloride, respectively), but experiments in the absence of carrier in the membrane revealed that no passive transport of neutral complexes (MCl2 or MCO3) occurs through PLM. A possible mechanism is discussed.