Extraction of Mn(II) from NaCl solution by NaCl/sodium oleate/n-pentanol/n-heptane microemulsion system

ABSTRACT

A microemulsion (ME) consisting of sodium oleate, n-pentanol, n-heptane and sodium chloride (NaCl) solution was used for Mn(II) extraction. The cation exchange mechanism of Mn(II) extraction by sodium oleate (NaOL) was confirmed by the analysis of continuous variation of the NaOL concentration and the infrared spectrum. The effect of the extraction time, the cosurfactant type and volume fraction, the volume ratio of aqueous to ME (R), the initial concentration of Mn(II), temperature, pH and the NaCl concentration in aqueous phase on the extraction yield of Mn(II) were investigated. The extraction percentage of Mn(II) was up to 99% when R = 1. Both the extraction and re-extraction had good extraction efficiency. Therefore, the extraction of Mn(II) by NaCl/sodium oleate/n-pentanol/n-heptane ME is an effective approach.

KEYWORDS:

• Manganese
• extraction
• microemulsion
• NaCl solution

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support by National Key Basic Research Program of China: [Grant Number 2014CB748500] and National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Numbers 51578239, 51322805].