Abstract Various methodologies have been proposed to selectively separate lanthanides. Nevertheless, the researches of more sustainable and effective methods are sought after motivated by economical and environmental concerns. We extracted… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Various methodologies have been proposed to selectively separate lanthanides. Nevertheless, the researches of more sustainable and effective methods are sought after motivated by economical and environmental concerns. We extracted and stripped the trivalent lanthanum (La(III)) in one step using a supported liquid membrane (SLM). The system was prepared by immobilization of the carrier–ionic liquid mixture (tributyl phosphate (TBP) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide ([C4mim] [Tf2N])) into the hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF) and it was placed between two independent compartments of glass diffusion cell. Stripping phase was chosen as distilled water. The lanthanum transport efficiency was optimized by two level three factor full factorial design. Optimum conditions for lanthanum transport were identified as150 mg/L initial La(III) concentration, 1:1 carrier–ionic liquid volume ratio and pH 5. In these conditions 38.15 ± 0.16% transport was achieved and pH found the most effective factor on La(III) transport in specified factor range values. Repeated runs were conducted to determine stability of membrane. Membrane characterization was carried out by means of environmental scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Membrane filter’s permeability for optimum La(III) concentration was calculated as 7.30 × 10−10 cm2 s−1. As a result, lanthanum transport has been carried out by supported liquid membrane method, which has more practical character and contains green chemistry components.
               
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