On-line dialysis of some metal ions and metal complexes

The effect of ionic strength, pH and complexing ligands on the dialysis of metal ions, particularly zinc(II), through cellulose acetate membranes, was studied under flow conditions. The dialysis factor, which depends on both the mass transfer and the membrane permeability, was found to be independence of ionic strength in the interaval 0.05–0.3 M and to increase only slightly with pH 4.6 and 7.0. Some common buffer constituents had no effect, but chloride and calcium ions affected the transfer rates. The rate of transfer of the ligands histidine, NTA and EDTA was of the same order of magnitude as that of the metal ions. The transfer rate of the Ni(II)-EDTA complex was the same as that of a mixture of Ni(II) and EDTA. Generally, addition of the chelating agents decreased the metal-ion transfer rates. Partition coefficients between the membrane polymer and the buffers were evaluated and compared with the dialysis factors and there were significant differences with regard to the range of variation, effect of concentration and pH-dependence. The time scale of uptake or release of metal ions by the polymer is much longer than that of a steady-state transfer in dialysis. Partition and dialysis may not be directly related to each other.