Modelling of copper ion transport through supported liquid membrane containing LIX 984

The transport of copper(II) from an aqueous solution containing zinc, cadmium, nickel and cobalt through supported liquid membrane using LIX 984 dissolved in different diluents as a mobile carrier was studied. A transport rate model has been derived taking into account diffusion through an aqueous feed boundary layer, diffusion of carrier–copper complex through supported liquid membrane and diffusion through an aqueous strip boundary layer as simultaneous controlling factors. For different types of supported liquid membrane (kerosene/Teflon; n-heptane/Teflon; n-octane/Teflon; and kerosene/Durapore), the mass transfer coefficients, kf (m s−1), were calculated from the described transport rate equation to lie between 2.4 to 2.5·10−5, whilst the membrane diffusion coefficients of the carrier–copper complex, DR2Cu, m (m2 s−1), were 2.6·10−10, 5.7·10−10, 1.1·10−9, and 4·10−10, respectively. The results showed that Cd2+, Zn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ ions were not transported in the pH range 1–5 studied.