The extraction of mercury(II), silver(I), cobalt(II) and cadmium(II) by dioctylarsinic acid in chloroform

Dioctylarsinic acid (HDOAA) in chloroform solution has been investigated as a reagent for the extraction of Hg(II), Ag(I), Co(II), and Cd(II). Silver, cobalt and cadmium are not extracted below pH 7. An extraction coefficient of 1.1, constant over the pH range 1–6.5, was observed for Hg(II). With HCl concentrations of 1–8 M the extractability of mercury decreased slowly, reaching E_a⁰ = 0.05 at 8 M HCl. Silver formed a silver dioctylarsinate precipitate which collected at the interface. The extraction coefficients for Hg(II), Co(II) and Cd(II) increased above pH 7 to values of 20 (pH 9.1), 30 (pH 8.0), and 23 (pH 10), respectively. Reagent- and pH-dependence studies indicated that Co(II) and Cd(II) are extracted as M(DOAA)₂ or M(DOAA)Cl through interaction of HDOAA with M(OH)₂ or M(OH)⁺. Mercury was extracted from solutions of pH 1–6.5 as HgCl₂ (HDOAA)_2.5.