Intensification of Europium extraction through a supported liquid membrane using mixture of D2EHPA and Cyanex272 as carrier

• A mixture of D2EHPA and Cyanex272 extractants with mole fraction ratio of 0.5:0.5 was intensified Eu pertraction.
• The maximum permeability coefficient value of 3.48 × 10−5 m s−1 was observed for Eu using 0.30 M D2EHPA and 0.30 M Cyanex272 as carrier.
• Under the assessed optimum conditions, the selectivity factor of Eu/Dy was found to be 3.2.
• Stability of the membrane was found satisfactory within 9 days.

Solvent extraction and supported liquid membrane transport properties of Eu from nitric acid medium using mixture of D2EHPA and Cyanex272 as carrier were investigated. In the solvent extraction studies, maximum synergistic enhancement factor (R) of 2.3 was obtained for the D2EHPA/Cyanex272 mole fraction ratio of 0.5:0.5. The synergistic effect of these carriers intensified Eu pertraction in the supported liquid membrane system. The effects of feed phase pH, stirring rate, carrier concentration, stripping agent concentration and membrane pore size were investigated in the supported liquid membrane experiments. Some experiments were carried out by various membrane thicknesses and the linear relationship between permeability coefficient and (membrane thickness)−1 showed that the Eu transport is membrane diffusion limited. The stability of the membrane is satisfactory over 9 days.