Selectively facilitated transport of Zn(II) through a novel polymer inclusion membrane containing Cyanex 272 as a carrier reagent

This paper describes the selectively facilitated transport of Zn(II) through a novel polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) containing Cyanex 272 as a carrier reagent. The prepared PIM was characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques and contact angle measurements. The effects of Zn(II) (in feed phase), HCl (in stripping phase) and Cyanex 272 (in membrane) concentrations on the transport were investigated. When the feed phase contained 1 × 10− 4 M Zn (II) at pH 3.4, 99% of Zn(II) was transported through the PIM (prepared with 1.0% carrier solution) by using 0.5 M of HCl as a stripping phase. Furthermore, Zn(II) was preferably transported in the presence of various metal ions (i.e., Ni(II), Cu(II), Pb(II) and Co(II), etc.). The results also showed that transport efficiency of the PIM was reproducible and it could be efficiently used in the long-term separation processes.

Research Highlights
► PIM is used as an alternative to SLM for Zn(II) transport.
► Zn(II) is selectively transported through PIM containing Cyanex 272 as a carrier.
► Transport efficiency of the PIM was reproducible.
► Prepared PIM could be efficiently used in the long-term separation processes.