Studies on Liquid‐Liquid Extraction and Recovery of Bismuth(III) from Succinate Media Using 2‐Octylaminopyridine in Chloroform

A procedure is described for the liquid‐liquid extraction and recovery of bismuth(III) from succinate solution using 2‐octylaminopyridine (2‐OAP) as an extractant. The quantitative extraction of bismuth(III) occurs from 0.004 to 0.007 M sodium succinate solution of pH 2.5‐10 using 0.036 M 2‐OAP in chloroform. The extracted metal ion has been recovered by stripping with (3 × 10 mL) 0.5 M nitric acid. The log‐log plot of distribution ratio versus succinate concentration and distribution ratio versus 2‐OAP concentration gave slopes of 2.0 and 0.9, respectively, indicating a metal‐succinate ratio of 1:2 and a metal: 2‐OAP ratio of 1:1. The ion pair complex has a high distribution ratio in chloroform, while other solvents are poor. The extractants are stable towards prolonged acid contacts and there is no loss in its extraction efficiency even after recycling ten times. The extraction behaviour of some commonly associated metal ions, namely Ga(III), Cd(II), Zn(II), Cr(VI), Cu(II), Ba(II), Sb(III), Sn(IV), Tl(I) and Pb(II), has also been investigated. Based on partition data, conditions have been identified for attaining some separations of bismuth(III) from other metal ions; these conditions are extended for the recovery of pure bismuth from ore and alloys. Thermodynamic quantities for the extraction process were calculated.