Abstract
Transport of mercury ions (Hg (II)), through a polypropylene (Celgard 2400) supported liquid membrane (SLM), employing trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) as carrier and toluene as a solvent, has been investigated. The work was conducted under different operating conditions with respect to feed pH and concentration, carrier concentration, and stripping phase concentration to explore optimum conditions for maximum extraction of Hg (II) ions; 0.2mol/L was the optimum concentration of TOPO for recovery of mercury. Experiments were conducted in the cotransport mode using hydrazine as the stripping reagent. It was observed that extraction of mercury increased with increase in concentration of hydrazine up to 0.05mol/L when stirred at 1,500rpm. Extraction of mercury was about 90%, under optimum conditions in 3h. The present SLM was found to be stable for about 50h of use.