Recovery of Copper(II) and Nickel(II) from Plating Wastewater by Solvent Extraction

The solvent extraction technology was applied to recover Cu2+ and Ni2+ from plating wastewater. Lix984N was chosen as the extractant due to its good extraction performance. The influence parameters were examined. The results show that the separation of Cu2+ and Ni2+ from sulphate medium can be realized by adjusting pH value with the help of Lix984N. For extracting Cu2+ and Ni2+, the optimal pH values are 4 and 10.5, and the maximal extraction percentages are 92.9% and 93.0%, respectively. With recovered Cu2+ and Ni2+ stripped in 170 g·L−1 and 200 g·L−1 H2SO4 medium, the stripping percentages of Cu2+ and Ni2+ are 92.9% and 93.0%, respectively. This method is simple and can be used to recover Cu2+ and Ni2+ from plating wastewater. And a flow sheet for separation of Cu2+ and Ni2+ is presented.