Selective separation of nickel from cobalt in ammoniacal solutions by emulsion type liquid membranes using 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) as mobile carrier

The selective separation and concentration of nickel from ammoniacal solutions containing nickel and cobalt by an emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) technique using 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) as carrier has been examined. The emulsion liquid membrane consists of a diluent (kerosene), a surfactant (ECA 4360J), a carrier (8-HQ), and a stripping solution (0.025 M EDTA solution, buffered at pH 4.0). Cobalt (II) in the 6 M ammonia feed solution was oxidised to cobalt (III) by adding H2O2 and the pH adjusted to 10 with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The important variables were found to be membrane composition, ammonia concentration, diluent type, surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, EDTA concentration in the stripping solution, pH of the feed and the stripping solutions, phase ratio, and treatment ratio. It was possible to selectively extract 96.5 to 99.0% of nickel from a mixture of nickel and cobalt.