Separation of iron and nickel from a spent FeCl3 etching solution by solvent extraction

Solvent extraction experiments were conducted to separate iron and nickel from a spent FeCl3 etching solution. Alamine336, MIBK and PC88A were tested as extractants and the highest extraction percentage of iron was obtained with Alamine336. It was possible to separate iron and nickel by extracting the spent etching solution with Alamine336. In the operation of mixer-settler, seven extraction stages with 1.0 M Alamine336 led to 99% extraction of iron at an O / A ratio of 7. Ten stripping stages with 0.01 M HCl solution resulted in an aqueous solution with 133 g/L of iron at an O / A ratio of 7.