Abstract
This article reports on the extraction of palladium(II) from hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions using polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) containing tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as the ion carrier. The membranes were based on cellulose triacetate (CTA) as the polymer support. The main aim of this study is to determine the possibility of TBAB's application as the effective ion carrier/extractant of Pd(II) from hydrochloric acid solutions. At first, the effect of the hydrochloric acid concentration in the aqueous phase on palladium(II) extraction was investigated. Next, cellulose triacetate membranes with TBAB as the carrier were prepared and applied for the recovery of Pd(II) from HCl solutions. As a result of the investigations, the optimal composition of the receiving phase was determined to be 0.5 M thiourea in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid. The effect of the acid concentration in the source phase was investigated. The results show a linear decrease in the permeability coefficient and initial flux of palladium(II) with an increase in the hydrochloric acid concentration in the source phase. The separation of Pd(II) from Pt(IV) from the hydrochloric acid solution was also studied. The transport rate of Pd(II) was higher than Pt(IV). The separation coefficient S(Pd/Pt) was 1.3. The results show that transport through PIMs with TBAB can be used as an effective method to recover Pd(II) from hydrochloric acid, especially at a low concentration of this acid.