Polymer inclusion membrane extraction of cadmium(II) with Aliquat 336 in micro-channel cell

• We show the versatile use of polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) based microchannel device for Cd(II) extraction.
• The micro device is composed of a PIM sandwiched between two serpentine micro channels built in Teflon plates.
• Extraction performance is optimized with respect to operational parameters.
• The membrane is stable and can be reused up to 16 times.

In this work, membrane transport of cadmium ion was explored through a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) in micro-system. The system was composed of a flat sheet membrane sandwiched between donor and acceptor aqueous phases that flow in serpentine microchannels built in Teflon plates. The PIM was composed by cellulose triacetate as polymer base, Aliquat 336 as carrier and o-nitrophenyl octyl ether as plasticizer. The potential of the system was demonstrated from continuous measurement of Cd(II) collected in the aqueous phases and analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The reported on-chip PIM extraction focused on proof-of-principle studies based on the system optimization from operational parameters affecting the performance. Enrichment factors (EF) were close to 11% and 100% for 1 h and 8 h of extraction experiment, respectively, at flow rates of 3 mL min−1. Compared with conventional cell, our results showed the feasibility of PIM in micro device to achieve efficient Cd ions extraction. The applicability of the device was briefly illustrated by extraction of metal ions mixture from aqueous solutions.

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