Separation and Purification of Glufosinate Through Combination of an Electrodialysis Membrane and a Macroporous Adsorption Resin

Glufosinate is a nonselective organophosphorus herbicide with low toxicity and high efficiency that is widely used in forestry, agriculture and other industries. In the process of manufacturing glufosinate, large amounts of ammonium chloride and coloured organic impurities are generated. Because of its high solubility in water, separation of glufosinate from inorganic salts is extremely difficult. Hence, a co-separation method combining an electrodialysis membrane and a macroporous adsorption resin was developed to obtain glufosinate with higher purity. For the electrodialysis process, a glufosinate reaction solution was placed in a dilute chamber and desalinated. The concentration of inorganic salts in the resultant glufosinate aqueous solution was only 0.99 g/L under the optimal conditions of an operating voltage and a volume ratio of 9 V and 1:1, respectively. For the macroporous resin adsorption/desorption process, the sample solution treated by electrodialysis was pumped into the resin-filled column, which was eluted to obtain the eluent when the adsorption reached equilibrium. Consequently, nearly all the coloured organic impurities were removed under the optimal conditions, in which the resin type, pH value, flow rate, glufosinate concentration, temperature, ratio of ethanol and volume of eluent were LX-300C, 3, 0.5 mL·cm^-2·min^-1, 20 mg/mL, 25℃, 50% and 400 mL, respectively. After the electrodialysis and adsorption/desorption process, the purity of the glufosinate was increased to 95.14%, and its recovery rate was as high as 98%. The advantages of this process included its ease of operation, environmental friendliness and low cost, which provided strong potential for its use in industrial applications.